Office of the Mayor - COVID-19 Update No. 1

MARCH 13, 2020                 COVID-19 UPDATE NO. 1            

All:

As we face the COVID-19 crisis together as a community, communications is key—now and always.  

Today, I participated in a conference call hosted by Oceanport’s Office of Emergency Management Director Mauro “Buzz” Baldanza.  The purpose of the call was to establish the Borough’s protocols designed to enhance our responsiveness and preparedness for the unfolding COVID-19 situation. Also on that call were Oceanport’s Business Administrator and Borough Clerk, representatives from our police department, volunteer fire department and volunteer first aid squad, two members of the Borough Council’s Public Safety Committee, our Superintendent of Schools and our Board of Education’s  President.

This was an incredibly productive and educational conference call for all of us and we will continue to stay in close contact with one another and share critical information out to residents as we have it.

Our OEM Director has shared the official “Protocol for First Responders” with Chief Kelly (Police), Chief Lippolis (Fire), and Captain Filippone (First Aid) so that all of our first responders are briefed and following the same procedures. Buzz is participating in another countywide OEM conference call tomorrow morning. 

OEM now has a Facebook page in operation. Please follow that page for updates. Buzz will post as much information as possible both there and on the Borough’s website. Just today he posted more information from the CDC and the NJ Dept of Health including a video debunking 13 myths about the virus as well as the Johns Hopkins’ world maps detailing the spread of the virus.

As you may or may not be aware, both Shore Regional High School and the Oceanport School District have suspended operations indefinitely.  Information on the schools’ status will appear on the Shore Regional High School website/social media feeds and both the Oceanport School District’s website and its Facebook page. Additionally, all organized recreational sports in Oceanport have been suspended until further notice.

I have been advised that Oceanport Municipal Court operations have been suspended and that the next Municipal Court session has been scheduled tentatively for April 22, 2020. 

Oceanport will continue to coordinate with local, regional, state and federal partners in our preventative, preparedness and mitigation efforts related to COVID-19.  This situation and the approaches to it are subject to a variety of unknown and ever-developing factors.  At present, the CDC and State Department of Health are advocating and emphasizing reasonable and replicable hygienic practices along with “social distancing” as the best means by which to prevent contraction of the illness.

Like every other municipality, the Borough of Oceanport is a provider of social and other public services.  As such, we must proceed with caution as we make every effort to continue to provide necessary services while, at the same time, ensuring the well-being of both our residents and municipal employees as we manage the risks associated with the COVID-19 issue.  To that end, at some point in the near future, it may well be that access to the municipal building and the services offered there will be limited in some fashion or eliminated.  Inasmuch as the facts attendant to this issue seem to fluctuate almost hourly, changes to our everyday business activities at Borough Hall and within the Borough are subject to change based upon health related information as it is received.     

I have spent the last five days or so immersed in all things COVID-19 related.  Where you get your information from can dramatically impact your level of concern about the spread of this virus.  The BEST places to get information from are (1) the CDC’s website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/index.html and (2) the State of New Jersey’s Department of Health’s website at https://www.state.nj.us/health/cd/topics/ncov.shtml.  Indeed, the DOH’s website now has a “dashboard”  at https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/covid2019_dashboard.shtml that provides up to the minute information on various matters associated with COVID-19.

Going forward, we will be endeavoring to provide updates on OEM’s Facebook page and the Borough’s website as soon as we have pertinent, reliable and verifiable information to share with the public.

Jay Coffey

Mayor of Oceanport