Clark Cancels Winter Festival, Tree Lighting Due To Coronavirus

CLARK, NJ — Clark is canceling the Winter Festival and Tree Lighting due to the rising number of positive coronavirus cases in Clark and across the state.

"With the high number of COVID cases in Clark and Gov. Murphy's recent Executive Order for Restriction of only 150 people at outdoor gatherings — leaves us no choice but to cancel the Winter Festival. I am beyond heartbroken," said Clark Recreation Director Ralph Bernardo in a letter to residents Wednesday.

Clark will still light the Christmas tree at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28 if residents would like to drive by.

"I promise Clark Recreation and all we offer will be back BIGGER than ever in 2021!" said Bernardo.

As of last Friday, Clark has reported 34 new cases in the past week bringing the cumulative total to 442 positive cases since March.

Murphy reported 4,063 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, and said that the new statistics as a whole are "not pretty." The state now has a total of 289,562 COVID-19 cases since March 4. Read More: NJ To College Students: Test For COVID Before Thanksgiving

Statewide transmission is up, as are hospitalizations, with 2,446 patients being treated, 2,196 of them confirmed as COVID-positive, Murphy added.

Of those patients, 461 were in intensive care units in hospitals throughout the state, with 223 patients on a ventilator. There were 27 new deaths reported on Wednesday.

"There is no way to sugarcoat any of these numbers," Murphy said. "They are not good, and they are trending worse."

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