Westfield Public Schools To Go Remote Through Dec. 14

WESTFIELD, NJ — With 174 students and staff members currently quarantined due to coronavirus, Westfield Superintendent of Schools Margaret Dolan said on Wednesday that the public schools will go remote starting Monday and through Dec. 14.

A week ago, the superintendent had said that families should prepare for the possibility of such an announcement, as coronavirus case rates in the region were classified as "high" or orange level by the state.

Other nearby districts, such as Cranford, had already announced plans to go remote for two weeks after Thanksgiving because of that "high risk" designation.

On Thanksgiving Eve, Dolan wrote in a letter, "While it is true that COVID transmission rates in our schools are low, the number of new and active cases in our community continues to rise which, in turn, impacts our schools. As we have heard repeatedly from federal, state, and local health and government officials, holiday gatherings and travel increase the risk of community spread exponentially. For that reason, and for others outlined below, all Westfield Public Schools will transition to full remote learning."

"As of this morning," she noted in the Thanksgiving Eve announcement, "there are 23 positive cases in our schools and 174 students or staff quarantined."

Other schools in Westfield have already had remote closures, including the high school on two occasions — in fact, Westfield High School is currently remote, Dolan noted, and will now stay that way through at least mid-December.

Dolan also referred to new quarantining guidelines.

"Additionally," she said, "recently updated guidance from the NJDOH and CDC require that, if an individual in a household is symptomatic and meets COVID-19 Exclusion Criteria, all students/staff in that household should be excluded from school until the symptomatic individual receives a negative COVID test result."

If the symptomatic person tests positive, all members of that household will need to self-quarantine.

Dolan wrote, "We have worked hard to keep our schools open for in-person learning, even as 65 percent of K-12 students in our county have been completely remote since March. We have followed public health guidelines in dealing with COVID exposure on a school-by-school basis."

Westfield recently lost a resident to the virus, Mayor Shelley Brindle announced Friday. Read more here.

2,505 hospitalized statewide

Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday that the state had reached 14,900 deaths of residents due to the virus. There were also 3,635 cases confirmed since the day before, for a total of 290,370 since March.

Murphy said there were 2,505 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in New Jersey as of Friday, with 452 in intensive care and 233 on ventilators. Read more here.

Last Thursday, the state said that 34 people had passed away due to the virus in the last 24 hours.

But the death rate was lower than in late April, when it reached 460 cases in 24 hours on April 30.

Doctors have said that a number of factors are contributing to the drop in the death rate since spring, including people getting test results (and thus treatment) sooner, more protective equipment available in hospitals, and doctors becoming better able to treat the virus. However, the virus still can have long-term effects.

Other updates

HOW TO GET TESTED

• Union County has added mobile walk up test sites in addition to the testing site located at Kean University. Testing is free for Union County residents and is by appointment only with no car required; participants must wear masks and observe social distance. Any Union County resident can make an appointment for a test, whether they have symptoms. To pick a location, date and time, and to make an appointment online, visit ucnj.org/coronavirus-update/walk-up.
• Union County residents who need to make an appointment by phone can call 908-518-4307 for assistance. Non-profit organizations and other community groups can call the Union County Office of Emergency Management at 908-654-9881 to request a visit from the Mobile Test Unit.

• To find out more, you can also contact your doctor, visit covid19.nj.gov/testing, or call 211.

NATIONAL TRENDS

• More than 900 health care workers have died of the virus nationally.
• Others are simultaneously fighting misinformation and hoaxes as they try to fight the virus.

HOW TO GET HELP WITH HEAT, RENT, AND MORE

• During the State of Emergency in New Jersey, no tenant is permitted to be evicted from their home or apartment for the inability to pay rent. Talk to your local mayor's office if you are experiencing difficulties.
• The CARES act has made money available to help with rent in each city. More information is here.
• New Jersey residents can get help with heating and energy bills. Information is here.
• Various other avenues of relief and benefits have also been made available, including family leave for 12 weeks if you can't work due to your child's school or camp being closed, and changes to unemployment rules to help those who were at a job for a short time, or freelancing.

LONG-TERM CARE

• Recently, there were 159 long term care facilities with active outbreaks, the state Department of Health said last month. The state announced that deaths at the facilities had more than doubled since May 1.
• New Jersey residents became alarmed at the high number of residents who have passed away in nursing homes, rehabs, and similar facilities. The state announced plans in May to increase testing at some long term care facilities.
• The state released death toll statistics in spring for long-term care facilities like rehabs and nursing homes. See the list here.
• You can report problems with long term care facilities here, or if you suspect coronavirus related misconduct, here.
• Some New Jersey long-term care facilities reopened for limited visits, with precautions, in July.

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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