Masks, COVID Vaccines Not Yet Required In Hillsborough

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — While some New Jersey towns are rolling out mask and COVID vaccine mandates, Hillsborough Township is not quite there yet.

"Hillsborough will continue to follow all CDC recommendations and requirements. At this time, we are not mandating vaccinations, albeit strongly encouraging the unvaccinated population to obtain the vaccine," said Hillsborough Township Clerk Pamela Borek.

As of Dec. 30, Hillsborough reported 91 cases for that day alone and a total of 414 since Dec. 24, according to Somerset County Department of Health.

This is an average daily COVID case count of 61 cases for Hillsborough, which is up from the previous week's average daily case count of 41, according to the Hillsborough Department of Health. The township has a population of more than 43,000 residents.

While the township is not yet issuing any mandates, the school district shifted to full-day virtual instruction for the week of Jan. 3 to 7, said Hillsborough Acting Superintendent Dr. Kim T. Feltre on Sunday night. Read More: Hillsborough Schools Pivot To Virtual Due To COVID Surge

In other parts of New Jersey, towns such as Montclair and Maplewood began mandating people to wear masks this month. Newark went one step further and is requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for customers 5 years of age and older at many establishments and facilities in the city.

These changes followed New Jersey's surging COVID-19 cases. On Monday, the state reported more than 20,000 cases.

For those looking for testing, Governor Phil Murphy recently announced there are more than 100 free and public COVID-19 testing sites throughout New Jersey.

Federal officials are bringing a free, mass coronavirus testing site to East Orange to help slow the spread of COVID-19, including the omicron variant. And it will be open to all New Jersey residents, authorities announced Wednesday. Read More: Mass COVID Test Site In East Orange Will Serve All NJ Residents

Vaccines and boosters are available through various outlets, including the State of NJ (covid19.nj.gov) and Somerset County (co.somerset.nj.us).

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