Mayor Janice Mironov and Members of Council -- Denise Daniels, Anthony Katawick, Marc Lippman, David Russell, Johnnie Whittington and John Zoller -- Present

April 9, 2020

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) UPDATE

Mercer County has reported, as of April 9, 2020, there have been a total of 1,161 Confirmed COVID-19 Cases to date, and 36 deaths in Mercer County. All active cases are either at home self-isolating or admitted to the hospital. The State of New Jersey today reported 3,590 additional Confirmed COVID-19 Cases for a current total of 51,027 cases, and 196 additional deaths for a total of 1,700 COVID-19 related deaths statewide. For all further information and data related to COVID-19 cases, go to the State's official web page at www.covid19.nj.gov.

Please remember to practice social distancing, follow the advice and directives of health care professionals and government officials, and use good sense, so we can all get through this difficult period together.

If you are concerned about your mental health or the mental health of a loved one during the current crisis, NJMentalHealthCares is available 7 days a week from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. at (866) 202-HELP (4357).

EAST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP UPDATES

• IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Temporary changes to Township Garbage Collection and Related Services will become effective Monday, April 13 and continue through May 9, 2020. For full details (CLICK HERE)
• The East Windsor Senior Center has available free Medicare counselling assistance by phone to Medicare beneficiaries regarding their health insurance, to provide objective, confidential, unbiased information and assistance. Call the Senior Center at (609) 371-7192 to schedule a phone session with a counselor.  The Senior Center remains staffed (Monday through Friday, 8 A.M. to 4 P.M.) to respond to phone and email inquiries.
• The Mercer County Library System continues to offer online services and resources, including hosting a series of Virtual programs of all kinds and for different interests, for example --  Virtual Science Fiction Book Club, virtual help creating and updating resumes and cover letters, and is adding new videos daily to their YouTube Channel, check it out, at www.youtube.com/c/MercerCountyLibrarySystem.  Visit the Mercer County Library System website 24/7 at www.mcl.org for free availability to e-books, audiobooks and streaming media, and to learn more about the library's full range of digital resources. 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY UPDATES

Governor Murphy issued Executive Order No. 122 (CLICK HERE) on April 8 closing all non-essential construction effective Friday, April 10 at 8 P.M.  Essential construction projects, which may continue, include the following:

• Projects necessary for the delivery of health care services, including but not limited to hospitals, other health care facilities, and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities;
• Transportation projects, including roads, bridges, and mass transit facilities or physical infrastructure, including work done at airports or seaports;
• Utility projects, including those necessary for energy and electricity production and transmission,   and   any   decommissioning    of facilities used for electricity generation;
• Residential projects that are exclusively designated as affordable housing;
• Projects involving pre-K-12 schools, including but not limited to projects in Schools Development Authority districts, and projects involving higher education facilities;
• Projects already underway involving individual single-family homes, or an individual apartment unit where an individual already resides, with a construction crew of 5 or fewer individuals. This includes additions to single-family homes such as solar panels;
• Projects already underway involving a residential unit for which a tenant or buyer has already entered into a legally binding agreement to occupy the unit by a certain date, and construction is necessary to ensure the unit’s availability by that date;
• Projects involving facilities at which any one or more of the following takes place: the manufacture, distribution, storage, or servicing of goods or products that are sold by online retail businesses or essential retail businesses, as defined by Executive Order No. 107 (2020) and subsequent Administrative Orders adopted pursuant to that Order;
• Projects involving data centers or facilities that are critical to a business’s ability to function;
• Projects necessary for the delivery of essential social services, including homeless shelters;
• Any project necessary to support law enforcement agencies or first responder units in their response to the COVID-19 emergency;
• Any project that is ordered or contracted for by Federal, State, county, or municipal government, or any project that must be completed to meet a deadline established by the Federal government;
• Any work on a non-essential construction project that is required to physically secure the site of the project, ensure the structural integrity of any buildings on the site, abate any hazards that would exist on the site if the construction were to remain in its current condition, remediate a site, or otherwise ensure that the site and any buildings therein are appropriately protected and safe during the suspension of the project; and
• Any emergency repairs necessary to ensure the health and safety of residents.

Governor Murphy's Executive Order No. 122 also imposes new restrictions on essential retail business operations, including:

• Limit occupancy at 50% of the stated maximum store capacity, if applicable, at one time;
• Establish hours of operation, wherever possible, that permit access solely to high-risk individuals, as defined by the CDC;
• Install a physical barrier, such as a shield guard, between customers and cashiers/baggers wherever feasible or otherwise ensure six feet of distance between those individuals, except at the moment of payment and/or exchange of goods;
• Require infection control practices, such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage and disposal;
• Provide employees break time for repeated handwashing throughout the workday;
• Arrange for contactless pay options, pickup, and/or delivery of goods wherever feasible. Such policies shall, wherever possible, consider populations that do not have access to internet service;
• Provide sanitization materials, such as hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes, to staff and customers;Require frequent sanitization of high-touch areas like restrooms, credit card machines, keypads, counters and shopping carts;
• Place conspicuous signage at entrances and throughout the store, if applicable, alerting staff and customers to the required six feet of physical distance;
• Demarcate six feet of spacing in check-out lines to demonstrate appropriate spacing for social distancing; and
• Require workers and customers to wear cloth face coverings while on the premises, except where doing so would inhibit that individual’s health or where the individual is under two years of age, and require workers to wear gloves when in contact with customers or goods. Businesses must provide, at their expense, such face coverings and gloves for their employees. If a customer refuses to wear a cloth face covering for non-medical reasons and if such covering cannot be provided to the individual by the business at the point of entry, then the business must decline entry to the individual, unless  the  business  is  providing  medication, medical supplies, or food, in which case the business policy should provide alternate methods of pickup and/or delivery of such goods. Nothing in the stated policy should prevent workers or customers from wearing a surgical-grade mask or other more protective face covering if the individual is already in possession of such equipment, or if the business is otherwise required to provide such worker with more protective equipment due to the nature of the work involved. Where an individual declines to wear a face covering on store premises due to a medical condition that inhibits such usage, neither the essential retail business nor its staff shall require the individual to produce medical documentation verifying the stated condition.

For general questions and concerns about COVID-19:

• Call: 2-1-1
• Call (24/7): 1-800-962-1253
• Text: NJCOVID to 898-211
• Visit covid19.nj.gov for additional information

PRIOR UPDATES

For prior updates and resources visit the EAST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP COVID-19 information webpage:
www.east-windsor.nj.us/COVID

Residents are advised to check the Township website at www.east-windsor.nj.us, read E-News Alerts, tune into Community Access TV Comcast Channel 27 and Verizon Channel 38, or call the municipal information hotline at (609) 443-4000, ext. 400, for schedule updates.