Westfield Mayor Says High School Graduation Moved To July

WESTFIELD, NJ — After another new announcement from Gov. Phil Murphy increasing the number of people allowed at outdoor gatherings, Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindle said at Tuesday night's council meeting that Westfield High School’s graduation will take place on July 8 (rain date July 9).

Brindle said, "I spoke to the governor’s office and Superintendent Dolan about it this morning, just prior to the announcement [Tuesday afternoon] that 500 people will be allowed at outdoor gatherings in early July. I’ll be speaking to WHS principal Mary Asfendis tomorrow to discuss arrangements."

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Last month, 17 student council presidents and senior class officers around New Jersey — including WHS Senior Class President Alexis Hammer —sent a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy requesting "live, outdoor graduations this summer with social distancing," rather than the restricted ceremonies the governor had approved so far.

Also as part of reopening plans, Westfield announced Tuesday several plans for downtown businesses.

A total of 12,176 New Jersey residents have now died from the virus in the last three months, Murphy said on Monday. He also said New Jersey had seen 356 more coronavirus cases and 40 more deaths in previous last 24 hours, bringing the number of confirmed cases statewide to 164,164.

This was down from a peak on April 30, when 460 New Jerseyans lost their lives to the virus in 24 hours, or one person every three minutes. Murphy has said that reopening plans will come in stages and follow data about cases.

More than 109,000 people in the United States had died of coronavirus as of June 1, over a three-month period in which many began isolating. For contrast, the CDC estimates that 61,000 people died of the flu during the entire 2017-2018 flu season, and fewer during last year's season.

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