COVID-19
Online orders for free at-home COVID tests to begin Jan. 19
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday launched a new website for Americans to request up to four free COVID-19 tests per household. The administration is buying 1 billion at-home rapid COVID-19 tests, and Americans will be able to begin ordering the tests online on Jan. 19 at COVIDtests.gov. This is part of the administration’s effort […]
Mask mandate in schools will continue ‘for foreseeable future,’ Murphy says
Mask mandates for students, teachers, and other school staff will continue “for the foreseeable future,” Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday, saying the order is necessary to keep New Jersey’s schools open amid a rise in positive coronavirus cases. Murphy’s latest directive comes as lawmakers are mulling whether to extend a series of executive orders, administration […]
N.J. prisons grapple with staff shortages, inmate restrictions as COVID-19 spreads anew
As the omicron variant sends coronavirus cases surging statewide, the virus also has spiked in New Jersey prisons, creating severe staffing shortages and increased restrictions for inmates, including suspended visitation. About 1,600 of the 7,300 staffers with the state Department of Corrections were out because of COVID-19 in December, and another 450 tested positive the […]
Bill would extend some of Murphy’s COVID emergency powers
Senate and Assembly committees approved a resolution Thursday that would extend a series of health care-related administrative directives, but the measure would also allow some executive orders to expire against the governor’s wishes. Gov. Phil Murphy sought a 90-day extension for a variety of administrative orders, executive orders, and other executive actions, citing the rising […]
Special education advocates seek court order to keep N.J. schools open
A New York-based group representing special education students has asked a federal judge for an emergency order to prevent any New Jersey schools from switching to virtual learning. The Brain Injury Rights Group filed a motion Monday in U.S. District Court in Newark seeking a temporary restraining order to ensure the 237,000 students ages 3 […]
N.J. courts chip away at backlog, but COVID surge could imperil efforts
More than two years into the pandemic, New Jersey’s courts are struggling with tens of thousands of backlogged cases, and a variant-fueled surge of COVID-19 cases could bloat the heap of unheard cases yet further. In March 2020 — before the pandemic forced the courts to move all proceedings to virtual spaces — New Jersey’s […]
Murphy asks feds to help staff hospitals, nursing homes overwhelmed by COVID-19
As COVID-19’s highly contagious omicron variant surges, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday he has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to send “strike teams” to work in the state’s hospitals and nursing homes, which have been overwhelmed with sick patients and residents at the same time the virus has decimated their staffs. Health Commissioner Judith […]
Dem leader slams ‘desperate’ Republicans for vaccine protest that delayed voting
New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin criticized his Republican colleagues for their “desperate efforts to delay important legislation” after a Monday voting session that lasted for about 11 hours. Several GOP lawmakers stretched the last voting day of 2021 into a marathon over their objections to a policy that requires them to show proof of […]
Feds order state to restore funding cuts to poorest school districts
The federal Department of Education has ordered New Jersey to restore millions of dollars in funding cuts the state made to 80 of its poorest school districts after lawmakers in 2018 changed how the state provides aid to local schools. The cuts violate a provision in the American Rescue Plan’s relief fund for elementary and secondary […]
Applications open for fund to help N.J. workers excluded from state, federal benefits
After 19 months of undocumented immigrants and other residents falling into debt while being excluded from pandemic-era relief funds, New Jersey’s long-awaited Excluded Workers Fund began accepting applications Wednesday. The long-awaited program, to be administrated by the state Department of Human Services, will be first come, first served, and will accept applications until its $40 […]
Vaccine proof or negative COVID test soon required to enter N.J. Statehouse
All lawmakers, aides, reporters, and visitors to the Statehouse in Trenton must show proof of vaccination or recent negative COVID test results to enter the building after a state commission approved the new mandate Tuesday morning. The vaccine-or-test rule goes into effect Dec. 1, according to the measure passed by the State Capitol Joint Management […]
Sussex County asks voters to OK potential legal fight with Murphy over nursing home docs
The Sussex County Board of Commissioners could be forced into a legal battle with the state over information on COVID-19 deaths in the state’s long-term care centers, but only if voters decide that’s a good idea. The lone county referendum on the ballot in Sussex this year would, if approved, require the commissioners to “consider […]