Those who are required to monitor the Covid-19 trends within our communities, and those who continue to keep informed about the world health pandemic in general, know and understand that this “thing” we have been going through since March of 2020 is far from over. Yesterday, the Lawrence Township Health Officer, Keith Levine, came into my office to inform me of his concerns regarding the Delta variant of Covid-19 and its increasing presence in our region of the State. He also followed up our discussion with data he is privy to as a NJ licensed Health Officer.
Though many of our residents have chosen to become vaccinated, many have not. The unvaccinated are now front and center in this pandemic. They are the ones that are most vulnerable to the virus, and this more lethal strain known as the Delta variant. The unvaccinated are becoming infected with the virus at a trending higher rate. The unvaccinated infected with the virus are overwhelmingly the ones in our hospitals fighting for their lives, while the vaccinated who become infected overwhelmingly experience minor symptoms.
As I wrote previously, I feel unqualified to defend the efficacy of the vaccines since I am not a scientist or public health official. I have turned to trusted sources of information bypassing the hosts of the various cable and network news programs, to make an informed decision to become vaccinated; to protect myself, my family, and all those who I come in close contact with, and to do my part to stop the spread and mutation of the virus.
But I do, however, feel a responsibility to share trusted information and facts that may present a pathway for those who have chosen not to be vaccinated (for other than valid medical reasons) to decide to do so. These are bizarre political times we find ourselves in, and some have allowed their politics to determine their response to a health pandemic that has wreaked havoc across the world ---over boundaries and jurisdictions--because the virus doesn’t care about such things. We will not climb out of this mess until we all join together to do what needs to be done to fight a health crisis – not a political war.
The data shows that here in NJ, the vaccines prove to be 99.9% effective against the virus. For those that test positive after complete vaccination, their cases are overwhelmingly proving to be minor. Of the nearly 32,000 Covid-positive hospital admissions reported between January 19 and July 12, more than 99% have been unvaccinated individuals.
In his July 26 conference, Governor Murphy stated, “We have the most amount of people in our hospitals with COVID since June 9. Over the past week, the number of confirmed COVID-positive patients in our hospitals increased roughly 30% over two weeks ago. Today, the confirmed number is 357. To give you a sense, last Monday that was 274, and two Mondays ago it was 249. There are also 62 persons under investigation currently hospitalized. The ICU count is 78. That number is also up from last week, up by about 35%, and the number of patients requiring a ventilator is now 33, and that’s up modestly from 29 a week ago. Over the past week, 366 COVID-positive patients entered our hospitals, increasing about 30% from two weeks ago, while 343 were discharged. The trends we are seeing over the past several days suggest we are not done seeing these numbers continue to rise.”
Based upon this information, the Township is changing its policy and requiring all persons entering our municipal buildings to meet and do “business” with our municipal employees to wear masks – regardless of their vaccination status. Our employees will be wearing masks when they are not at their workstations or in their offices. This is necessary so that we can, without interruption, provide the services the community needs, expects, and deserves.
Some will refuse to wear masks, but they will be denied entry into the building. We will continue to operate as we had in the past by conducting business at the North Entrance of the municipal building and using the black dropbox if your entry is denied because you refuse to wear a mask or it is simply your preference to not enter. We will continue to have in-person meetings (council, board, and committee) and implement the standard protocols (mask-wearing and social distancing) we have become accustomed to during the pandemic.
This change will be in effect on August 2, 2021, and will remain until further notice.
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