New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says a plan for more novel coronavirus testing and contact tracing will cost the state millions but is necessary before the economy can be reopened.
The goal is to test 20,000 New Jersey residents daily by the end of May and 25,000 daily by the end of June. The average daily testing was 12,000 at the end of April.
Rutgers University will receive $6 million in federal funds to help the state increase its testing capacity, Murphy said.
“More testing means more people will know their health status,” Murphy said. “That means more peace of mind. More testing creates more data. More data allows us to take more steps forward.”
The state has about 135 private and public testing sites, the governor said. The testing program will focus on vulnerable/high risk populations, front-line workers and members of the general population that may have been exposed to the virus. Mobile testing sites will be established and some faith-based sites may offer testing.
All residents and staff of long-term care facilities will be tested by May 26, the governor said.
About 1,000 contact tracers will be hired to help about 800-900 paid staff and volunteers and the jobs pay between $20 to $25 an hour, Murphy said. The state is using a platform from technology firm Dimagi to manage the data. The state is contracting with Rutgers School of Public Health to hire the first group, according to Murphy.
“This will take the investment of significant state resources, federal resources, and investments by our philanthropic and corporate partners,” Murphy said. “Contact tracing has remained largely a local or regional effort. We must now centralize these efforts. I will execute an executive order to ensure that local health departments, and state health officials, are all using and working off of the same information platform.”
The state remains under an indefinite stay-at-home order. The number of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations are trending downward, according to statistics released Tuesday.
The number of hospitalizations has declined 71% since peaking on April 10 and the number of new cases has declined 61% since peaking on April 4. According to numbers released on Tuesday, 140,743 New Jersey residents had tested positive for the virus since the outbreak began and 9,508 people have died.
Murphy said the testing and contract tracing will “give us faith that the public’s health will continue to be priority number one.”
“Without that faith, there can be no economic restart or recovery,” Murphy said.
