By Donald Gilpin

Princeton continues to see a flattening curve and diminishing numbers of COVID-19 infections, as the state and the town prepare to start Stage 2 of reopening on Monday, June 15 with the resumption of outdoor restaurant dining and non-essential, retail stores welcoming customers inside.

Beginning on June 22, barber shops and salons will also be able to reopen, with personal care, gyms, and health clubs to follow gradually, as the restarting proceeds in the weeks afterwards. Health and safety guidelines for all these activities will be issued in the coming days.

The Princeton Health Department is providing businesses with an electronic checklist, also found at princetoncovid.org, which reviews strategies businesses can use to protect the health of staff and customers. The Health Department is also making site visits to any business looking for assistance with their new business process or a review of occupational health concerns related to COVID-19.

Princeton Health Officer Jeff Grosser cited significant progress in Princeton’s efforts to combat the pandemic, but warned about challenges ahead. In addition to working with businesses to ensure that they are being protective of public health when reopening their doors, the Princeton Health Department urges residents to continue to take precautions.

“Preventative measures, like social distancing, wearing masks, and handwashing still remain some of the most important tools to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Grosser wrote in an email. “Although we are seeing a slow in the incidence of COVID-19 locally and throughout the state, it’s important to continue to take precautions since we have also seen widespread transmission of COVID-19 from people who may not know they have the virus but still spread it to others.”

Grosser continued, “My greatest concern with reopening is that we quickly forget how much COVID-19 has impacted our society, our residents of Princeton, our neighbors, our families, and friends. If we forget how large an effort it has taken to ‘flatten the curve,’ we will not take those precautions or preventative measures, and undoubtedly will see more cases and experience sustained outbreaks. There’s tremendous power in prevention, yet it is a power that is often overlooked because it doesn’t grab headlines or create news. Prevention is public health. And both should remain relevant, even after the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Princeton Health Department announced Monday, June 1, a total of 18 confirmed COVID-19-related deaths in Princeton, plus an additional seven probable (symptomatic but not tested) deaths. There have been only three new cases reported in the past week, ten in the past two weeks, for a total of 175 cases, 59 active cases, and 90 recovered with isolation completed.

The long-term care facilities, where most of the COVID-19 related deaths in Princeton have occurred, continue to be a focal point for the Health Department. “Both Princeton Care Center and Acorn Glen continue to work through the outbreak with success,” Grosser said. “We have established a daily check on outbreak status and a weekly call with both facilities to discuss current issues, including equipment shortages and any other concerns they may have. Princeton understands that long-term care centers have felt the true burden of this pandemic, and we are going to continue to support their efforts until a resolution to this pandemic is declared.”

In his coronavirus press briefing on Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy reported 51 COVID-19-related deaths in the previous 24 hours for a total of 11,770 deaths in the state, with 708 new positive tests for a total of 161,545 total cases in New Jersey.

Murphy expressed optimism in citing declines in the numbers of new cases and deaths and also noted that the state has significantly increased testing and is expanding contact tracing to enhance handling of any spikes in numbers as Stage 2 of the reopening proceeds.

The NJDOH announced Tuesday a total of 7,004 Mercer County residents who had tested positive for the virus, with 477 COVID-19-related deaths in the county.

Actual numbers of COVID-19-related infections, locally and statewide, probably surpass confirmed case numbers because of testing backlogs and infected residents who have not been tested.
For more information, visit princetoncovid.org or covid19.nj.gov.