Open Up Business, Testing Needed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: May 14, 2020
Contact: Shaun C. Van Doren, Freeholder Director
Shaun.vandoren@co.hunterdon.nj.us
Freeholders: Opening Up Businesses The Right Call
Now State Needs To Provide COVID-19 Test Kits
Hunterdon County’s Freeholders have called the Governor’s decision to permit non-essential retail stores to reopen with curbside pickup and for non-essential construction projects to resume, effective on Monday, May
18th, good first steps for local businesses, but said the state needs to provide more resources for COVID-19
testing to give the economy the boost it needs.
Hunterdon County Freeholder Board Director Shaun C. Van Doren and Deputy Director Susan J. Soloway, in a
letter to the Governor on the behalf of the Freeholder Board last week, called on Governor Murphy to allow
small businesses to be able to offer curbside pickup effective immediately.
Under Executive Order # 142, the Governor announced yesterday that retail curbside pickup would be allowed
and construction projects for homeowners would now be permitted.
Van Doren said, “The Governor made the right call in heeding our advice, along with that of other counties and
business groups, to allow small businesses the option to offer curbside pickup for customers. We also welcome
the decision to allow construction companies, many of which are also small businesses, to begin work again.
All of these businesses need the chance to get back on their feet and workers need their jobs.”
Soloway, a Board liaison for Economic Development, stated, “In our letter to the Governor, we pointed out that
numerous restaurants in Hunterdon County and across the State of New Jersey have been offering curbside food
pickup successfully by adapting their operations to protect public health. Now our small local shops can do the
same.”
Soloway, who also is liaison for the Health Department, said, “To further help the economy, we need the state
to provide resources to Hunterdon County for increased COVID-19 testing and contact tracing. The joint
Hunterdon Somerset test site at RVCC has tested nearly 700 individuals and the County’s Health Department
has conducted over 4000 individuals through the contact tracing program. The State needs to step up to help us
do more.”
Van Doren noted, “The County’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) recently submitted a request to the
State OEM for 5000 more COVID-19 test kits, in addition to the 5000 requested in mid-March. The federal
government has said New Jersey is in line to receive hundreds of thousands of test kits, but Hunterdon County
has yet to see one from the state.”