‘Need to See Downward Trend Continue’
Trenton N.J. – Mayor W. Reed Gusciora and the City’s Health Teams called for the need to continue social distancing measures to continue in the Capital City. Trenton’s Health Team made up of Henry J. Austin Health Center, St. Francis Medical Center and Helene Fuld at Capital Health Systems, all have been treating COVID cases in Trenton.
“While we may see some flattening of the “curve” of new COVID cases, it is important that residents wear face masks, regularly wash their hands, and maintain social distances of 6 feet from others when out shopping or in the public,” said Gusciora. “We need to see the downward trend continue.
The mayor noted that the city’s first positive case of Covid-19 occurred March 17th, but that the number rose to 70 by April 2nd. The City’s current count is at 1343. While the numbers were doubling every few days at the beginning of the virus’s spread in Trenton, the mayor said, “we expect the peak has not been reached in the Capital City.”
A spokesperson for St. Francis Medical Center mirrored Gusciora’s call to residents in the Capital City to stay home. “There’s no worse mistake we can make than thinking that we’re out of this,” commented CEO Daniel Moen, “and it would be a deadly mistake. We’re not even in the woods; let alone out of them.”
Capital Health President and CEO, Al Maghazehe, noted that the volume of COVID-19 positive patients at his hospitals had yet to peak or plateau. “We continue to admit COVID-19 positive patients every day. I urge everyone to please continue following CDC guidelines, especially social distancing so that our hospitals do not become unnecessarily overwhelmed and so that we can minimize the pain and suffering of our neighbors and loved ones. This is not an option, this is necessary. We are talking life and death, take it seriously.”
Governor Murphy announced a plan to re-open State and county parks this weekend. But the Governor also ceded that the southern portion of the state was still seeing cases at a significantly higher rate than the North.
“We need to all work together to protect the health of our citizens,” concluded Gusciora. “If you think you are invulnerable to the effects of this virus, just look at all the social media announcements of persons who have died. The more we practice health safety measures, the quicker we can all move on with our lives.”
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PRESS CONTACT:
Connor S. Ilchert
CIlchert@trentonnj.org
Office: (609) 989-3047
Cell: (609) 310-0299
