New Jersey Governor: Non-Cooperation with Contact Tracers ‘Up to a Whopping 74%’

Sailors annotate covid-19 symptoms Saturday during door-to-door daily medical checks aboar
Jordan E. Gilbert/Navy/AFP/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

The percentage of New Jersey residents refusing to cooperate with contact tracers continues to rise, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced on Monday.

“Contact Tracing Update: We now have more than 30 contact tracers on the ground for every 100,000 residents,” Murphy said. “The rate of non-cooperation is now up to a whopping 74%.”

The governor maintained this is “not a witch hunt” and added they are “only trying to stop the spread of this virus.”

“Work with our contact tracers,” he urged:

The percentage of non-cooperation among New Jersey residents has increased four percent in the last week alone. On November 30, Murphy expressed frustration that “nearly 70 percent” were not cooperating.

Repeating it is “not a witch hunt,” Murphy instructed New Jerseyans to “take the call”:

The state reported 3,573 new cases of the virus on Monday, bringing the statewide cumulative total to 371,579. It also reported 17 coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the statewide total to 15,500:

Further restrictions went into effect on Monday, including a drastic reduction in outdoor gatherings, moving from 150 to 25 with an exemption for political events, religious activities, funerals, and weddings.

The state has also implemented a ban on indoor youth and high school sports, which went into effect over the weekend. However, Murphy signaled that cutting indoor dining, which is capped at 25 percent, is “not, right now, on the table for us.”

“If we saw explicit waves of transmission coming out of the indoor dining experience, obviously we’d have a different approach,” he added.

A maskless Murphy came under fire last month after dining out with his family after retightening restrictions in the Garden State.

“You’re having fun with your family, and in the meantime, you’re having all other kind of bullshit going on,” a woman said as another called the governor a “dick.”

Nonetheless, neighboring Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said on Monday that he will move to close or reduce indoor dining if hospitalization rates do not stabilize across the Empire State:

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.