NJ Mayor: America's 'Renegade Spirit A Terrible Trait Right Now'

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen, who is also a practicing physician, said Tuesday it is America's independent spirit that is actually hurting the nation when it comes to containing the coronavirus.

On Monday, the U.S. saw more than 100 coronavirus patients die in a single day. That's the first time so many died in one day since the outbreak began.

"We are different than South Korea and China. In Asian countries they basically gave orders and people in those countries listened," said Cohen. "In America, everyone tries to figure out a way around the rules. We say, 'Oh, the rules don't apply to me.' Now look, sometimes that might be great. As Americans, we are a renegade nation. We think outside the box. It's made us great innovators. We've become so successful as a nation because we've found a way outside the rules."

"But it's a terrible characteristic to have right now," he continued. "Right now you just need to listen to the government and health experts. And we're terrible at that."

Cohen, a Democrat, was elected as East Brunswick's mayor in 2016 and is also a physician with a private practice in town. It's a town of about 48,000 people.

Cohen praised the United States as "one of the greatest start-up nations in the world," and compared it only to Israel in terms of start-up potential.

"We take chances; that's always been Americans. It's truly made us great. But right now, people need to just shut the heck up and listen. Our state government is doing a great job, but our own worst enemies are ourselves."

He urged people to stay inside their homes as much as possible and keep a six-foot distance from others, as the U.S. coronavirus death toll rises. Cohen gave examples of people still congregating in parks and playgrounds, and kids still gathering to play pick-up basketball.

"I wanted the parks to stay open so people aren't cooped up inside, but then I saw parents congregating at playgrounds. So we had to fence off the playgrounds. And then someone cut a hole through the fencing," he said. "We put fences around the basketball courts and kids still climbed over the fences. That's the type of stuff you would never see in other countries. But that's just who we are as a country."

Cohen said as of Tuesday, East Brunswick police will start issuing summonses to teens who are still congregating in parks.

Cohen said he has also been hesitant to release the daily number of positive coronavirus cases in his town because:

"It's feeding into a frenzy of just watching the numbers go up like you're watching a horse race," he said. He said he "definitely" agrees with New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli when she famously said over the weekend that "everyone will get this virus."

"She's 100 percent right. What she wants you to do is exercise caution and isolate from non-symptomatic carriers because that's probably who you're going to get it from," he said. "Most people are not going to get this from someone coughing in a hospital bed. They are going to get it from standing next to someone at a store who doesn't show symptoms. Assume everyone has it; assume everyone you talk to has it."

As of Tuesday, eleven East Brunswick residents officially tested positive for coronavirus.