Summit Kids May Get $5 If Spotted Wearing A Mask

SUMMIT, NJ — The Summit Police Department and Summit Downtown have launched a program to give kids $5 gift cards if they're spotted maintaining a "safe physical distance" and wearing masks when in groups amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Summit kids went back to school on Sept. 1. A week later, the middle school announced that a student had been exposed to the virus, but schools stayed open.

The Summit community has had relatively few cases of coronavirus, with 17 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, the last one announced June 17.

The initiative is specifically meant "to encourage elementary, middle and high school-age students to wear masks in groups, or when maintaining a safe physical distance of six feet is not possible."

"Summit Downtown Inc. is providing 100, five-dollar gift cards for Summit police officers to hand out when they see students wearing masks properly over the mouth and nose," said a town press release. "The Wear a Mask program begins on Wednesday, Sept. 16 and will continue until all 100 cards have been given out."

Another way of supporting businesses throughout the city is to buy a Summit Visa gift card at https://www.summitdowntown.org/gift-cards/

Summit Police Chief Andrew Bartolotti said, "Over the past six months, Summit citizens have done an excellent job of following health department guidelines, and the Police Department appreciates how difficult it has been for everyone. With the recent increase in confirmed positive cases among young people, we are partnering with Summit Downtown to promote and reward proper mask-wearing among students. Officers look forward to handing out cards to help influence good behavior to help curb the spread of coronavirus in the Summit community.”

If the program is successful, it may be continued into the fall.

For more information about the Summit Police Department and community policing, visit the City of Summit website.

Statewide, residents are encouraged to social distance, wear masks in public places, and limit most indoor gatherings to 25 people.

Local coronavirus statistics

• A recent breakdown of Summit coronavirus cases and fatalities can be found here.
• More than 196,000 Americans have now died of coronavirus, and more than 6 million have tested positive.
• More than 900 health care workers have died of the virus nationally. Others are simultaneously fighting misinformation as they try to fight the virus.
• A viral social media post was removed from Twitter last week that misstated that only 9,000 people died from the virus. The confusion stemmed from the fact that people who died of the virus also were confirmed to have died from pneumonia caused by the virus, and other factors.

Here are 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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