Close NJ Schools? Murphy Says No Amid COVID-19 'Tsunami'

NEW JERSEY — With school districts across New Jersey announcing that they are going virtual to start 2022, Gov. Phil Murphy reiterated that the state has no plans to shut down schools the way it did in March 2020.

However, students in schools and child care facilities will continue to wear masks in schools, despite previous reports that that mandate could have been lifted as early as next week.

“We currently have no intention or plan to shut our schools,” Murphy said during a news conference Monday. “We have no desire to return to remote learning, which is suboptimal as we all know in terms of learning, instruction and learning loss. Certainly, individual schools and districts may make their own decisions after consulting with their own local health departments, but we will do everything we can to keep our kids in school, where we know they will have a more appropriate educational experience and where the data actually shows they can be kept in an overall reality safe.”

On Monday, the state reported 37 new outbreaks due to in-school transmission, including 186 new cases among students and 43 new cases among school staff members statewide. Overall, there have been 373 outbreaks this school year involving 1,813 students and 310 staff members, according to officials.

On Friday, while touring a newly launched federal COVID-19 testing facility in East Orange, the governor declared that an “omicron tsunami” is making its way through the state.

The state also reported 29,740 new cases on Jan. 1, the highest since the pandemic began. It's currently unclear how much of New Jersey's recent case rise is due to the omicron variant. But according to Murphy, the speed at which COVID-19 is spreading in the state is "staggering."

The governor said the latest totals are most likely an undercount, because they don't include the results of home tests.

"The best way we can get a handle on this phase of the pandemic is through testing," Murphy said. "When you get tested and know your COVID status, you can take the necessary steps and precautions to limit the further spread."

Read more: NJ Is Seeing 'Omicron Tsunami' As COVID Cases Rise, Governor Says

To ensure schools can stay open, the Department of Health issued new guidance to school districts, and provided information about the "test-to-stay" program. The program combines contact tracing and serial testing to allow students to continue in-person learning during after being exposed to COVID-19 as an alternative to traditional quarantining. Serial testing is defined as testing twice over a seven-day period. Read more here: Quarantining NJ Students Can Stay In School Under Pilot Program

"We asked all school testing vendors to be in as many schools as possible today to be able to test staff and students," New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. "I sent letters to local health departments and testing site partners, asking to prioritize appointments and walk-in availability for children and their families this week. Sites were also asked to expand hours dedicated to testing children."

She asked the same of local pharmacies that conduct COVID-19 testing.

Earlier in the day, Murphy announced a 90-day extension of the governor’s emergency powers related to vaccine distribution, testing and adherence to the guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This includes the continued mask mandate for students, which was reportedly previously set to expire Jan. 11. Read more here: NJ School Mask Mandate In 2022: Will Gov. Murphy Extend It?

“This means we anticipate our kids having to wear masks in their schools for now in order to protect their health and safety, and ensure that they can continue in-person learning,” Murphy said. “This brings us absolutely no joy. No one wants to see our kids’ smiles more than I do, but this is what is necessary now to keep our schools safe.”

The infection rate in schools was increasing even before the start of the holiday break due to the emergence of the omicron variant, Murphy said. However, the increase in cases in schools is below what was anticipated given how transmissible the omicron variant has proved to be, Murphy said.