Gov. Murphy Blasts 'Irresponsible' Critics Of Coronavirus Actions

NEW JERSEY — Gov. Phil Murphy fired back at critics who say the new coronavirus pandemic is being exaggerated, and he ripped into one local official who is calling for the state to be reopened.

Murphy called comments posted by Atlantic County Surrogate Jim Curcio on social media Saturday, “irresponsible,” and said there would be “blood on our hands” if the state “unties the system” prematurely.

“This is literally life and death,” Murphy said during a news conference on Saturday. “What we need is responsible leadership. We don't need irresponsible leadership.”

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Murphy was referring to this Facebook post from Atlantic County Surrogate Jim Curcio on Saturday:

Murphy noted that Atlantic County residents have died after testing positive for the coronavirus as of Saturday, Murphy said.

Murphy has taken more heat for his stay-at-home actions since he ordered state and county parks to close on April 7, noting the state struggled to prevent public gatherings at these parks.

Curcio's statement also came days Assemblyman Jay Webber — a Republican who represents parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties — joined a growing chorus of GOP legislators who are calling for Murphy to reopen the parks. See related: Republican Lawmakers Say Murphy Should Re-Open State, County Parks

“I’ve had a lot of constructive and polite back and forth with ‘why are we keeping our parks closed,” Murphy said. “A lot of golfers out there want to golf."

Murphy said the state "believes strongly that what we're doing on both of those fronts is what we need to do to keep people safe, keep them out of hospitals and ultimately keep them alive."

"Why would we keep you from going to a public park if we didn’t think we were trying to protect the general health of the state?" he said. "We didn’t run on an anti-park platform. This is being done to keep people safe, keep them out of hospitals and keep them alive.”

As surrogate, Curcio serves as deputy clerk for Atlantic County Superior Court and judge of the Surrogate’s Court, handling wills and other real estate documents.

Murphy also addressed recent commentary that the coronavirus threat has been exaggerated, that it's not worse that the flu.

"That point of view is wrong," Murphy said. "The flu has not caused the devastation our population is seeing."

New Jersey has now lost more people this year to the coronavirus that it did from the flu over the last three years combined, Murphy said. He also noted that there are no proven therapeutics and there is no vaccine, so he's asking people to open their minds.

"Please open them, open them wide before you become one of the numbers I report every day,” Murphy said.

As of Saturday, there were 81,420 cases of the coronavirus reported statewide, including 4,070 fatalities. Read more here: Gov. Murphy: ‘We Are Flattening Curve’ Of Coronavirus; Here’s Why

Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know