Cranford Coronavirus Updates And Trends

CRANFORD, NJ — The Cranford Township Committee gave the following weekly update on Wednesday night regarding coronavirus statistics in town:

• CRANFORD: 510 confirmed cases and 96 confirmed fatalities in total since the beginning of the pandemic, including 10 new cases in the last week — 9 of those in the community, and one of a resident of a long-term care facility.
• UNION COUNTY: 16,439 confirmed cases as of Wednesday; 1,174 confirmed fatalities (171 probable but not yet confirmed)

On July 22, a week earlier, they gave this update since July 14:

• CRANFORD: 500 confirmed cases (3 new in community since the previous week) 96 confirmed fatalities (0 new)

• UNION COUNTY: 16,515 confirmed cases; 1,167 confirmed fatalities (175 probable but not confirmed)

Coronavirus levels are increasing in many states (see the daily increases in each state here). States around the country have had to pull back on their reopenings, including Texas, which closed bars and which is seeing a record number of hospitalizations and deaths.

As of Thursday afternoon, the number of cases in New Jersey since early March climbed to 180,970, with 13,934 confirmed deaths. Thursday's number included 261 cases confirmed since the day before, and 19 more confirmed deaths.

The governor has warned the day before that New Jersey's coronavirus cases are on the rise again, and he believes that indoor parties have been largely responsible for the uptick. Read more: Gov. Murphy Warns That NJ's Coronavirus Cases Are Rising Again

But the current daily death rate is down from New Jersey's peak: a high of 460 deaths in 24 hours on April 30, or one person every three minutes.

Earlier this month, Gov. Phil Murphy ordered residents to wear masks. He also has asked for residents to quarantine after coming from 34 states that are seeing spikes.

Here are some other recent Cranford coronavirus updates related to schools, testing, reopenings, and more:

SCHOOLS

• Cranford schools will reopen, with various distance and in-person learning options, on Sept. 8.
• After announcing preliminary plans last week to reopen the Cranford schools with coronavirus restrictions, Cranford Superintendent of Schools Scott Rubin gave updates last Thursday in response to a parent survey. A final plan will be released this Thursday. After plans are released, parents will get a week to decide.
• In the currently proposed plan in Cranford, elementary students will go to school every weekday, with single-session days and no lunch. Middle school students will attend every other day, and high school students will go two to three days per week, alternating. Remote learning sessions will fill in the gaps.
• While most children in the United States have not suffered severe effects from coronavirus, they can still spread it to parents, teachers, and others. A large-scale study in South Korea, quoted widely in America, has shown that teens spread it at the same rate as adults, more easily than younger children.
• Gov. Phil Murphy's administration released its broad school reopening guidelines to the districts late last month.

ENTERTAINMENT

• Read about the newly announced outdoor drive-in movies here.
• Read about Cranford outdoor dining here.
• Read about other Cranford reopenings here.

TESTING

• The schedule for the Union County drive-through testing center has changed several times. For more information, click here.
• If you're a Union City resident, you can make an appointment at the testing site by calling 908-214-7107.

LOCAL BUSINESS/JOBS

• The Garden State had planned to start allowing bars and restaurants to reopen for indoor dining on Thursday at 25 percent capacity — but Murphy pulled back a week ago Monday, citing coronavirus spikes in other states where indoor dining opened earlier, as well as photos of Jersey shore bars packed with patrons.
• However, outdoor dining started June 15.
• Hair salons and other personal care businesses were able to reopen June 22. State rules can be found here.
• Read more about unemployment, small business, and other coronavirus regulations and benefits in New Jersey here.
• Turtleback Zoo has job opportunities in guest relations, paddle boats, Treetop Adventure, parking and maintenance, must be 18 years of age. Please visit the link for a list of available jobs and how to apply: https://buff.ly/2QWodaV

HOSPITALS/NURSING HOMES

• New Jersey residents have become alarmed at the high number of residents who have passed away in nursing homes, rehabs, and similar facilities, and have charged that the facilities are undercounting the numbers and not adequately protecting residents and staff. The state has faced questions for weeks from the press about how they will address the problems.
• There is now a state website with numbers for people at individual nursing homes.
• You can report immediate issues with long term care facilities here, or if you suspect coronavirus related misconduct that should be reported to the Attorney General, here.
• Some long-term care facilities have begun allowing socially distanced visits.
• Local hospitals updated their visitor guidelines recently. Read more here.

GIVING AND GETTING HELP

• To find out about help for the needy and seniors, or get food or food bank information, contact your town via the Cranford town website.
• To read about Feed the Front Lines, click here.

Here are additional statewide coronavirus resources:

• NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/
• General COVID-19 questions: 2-1-1
• NJ COVID-19 hotline: (800) 222-1222

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