Full Notification

CONFIRMED CASES
As of today, there are 427 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey, 26 of which are in Union County. This includes a fourth confirmed case in Westfield -- a 56 year-old male who is stable and managing symptoms at home. All individuals considered to be close contacts are in the process of being reached and asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. 

LOCAL UPDATES
Thanks to everyone who joined our Facebook Live session this morning. I was pleased to have the opportunity to answer additional questions and I’m grateful, as always, for the expertise of Jim Gildea, Megan Avallone, Chief Battiloro, and our Public Information Officer Kim Forde to help keep everyone informed. If you missed it, you can see the replay on Facebook (on my page or the Town of Westfield page), as well as on our website and YouTube channel. It will also play on TV 36 over the next few days. We will continue to host these sessions in the coming weeks as one of many ways to reach out to everyone with new information and to hear your concerns.

UTILITIES
We have been notified by PSE&G (electricity) and Comcast (internet) that they have suspended disconnections of non-payments on residential accounts in order to give customers experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the outbreak additional time to pay their bills. For more information, visit pseg.com/help or https://corporate.comcast.com/covid-19.

SOCIAL DISTANCING    
Finally, I’m going to remind everyone once again about social distancing, as I continue to receive numerous messages from concerned residents about ongoing gatherings among both adults and kids. Getting together with neighbors and having kids gather -- on playgrounds, on fields, and in homes -- is not social distancing. On the contrary, it puts the community at risk while our main objective is to flatten the curve and lessen the strain that can be placed on our medical community. Please consider your neighbors who work on the front lines -- the health professionals and first responders -- and do your part by staying home and keeping a safe distance from others when it’s necessary to go out. To be clear, that necessary distance is six feet or more. I’m including two documents from the Westfield Regional Health Department that provide specific guidance on this critical issue, which will also be distributed in the coming days through the Westfield Public Schools email list.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• For an update of cases by county, there is now a dashboard available at https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/covid2019_dashboard.shtml

• The NJ Department of Human Services operates a toll free “warm line” which is a resource for people seeking mental health service. The warm line is available 24 hours and has operators in multiple languages. The number is (877) 294-HELP (4357).

• NJ Department of Health (NJDOH) has created a graphic for the public to access their risk level that can be found at https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/documents/topics/NCOV/COVID-19%20risk%20level_general%20public_031620.pdf

I hope you are all holding up. It’s a challenging time for everyone -- please take comfort in knowing that we are here to answer your questions and provide any and all assistance that we can.

--Mayor Shelley Brindle