Lakewood COVID case numbers continue to rise
Lakewood’s recent trend of increasing COVID cases increased significantly last week, ending with a total of 370 reported cases, according to the Ocean County Health Department. The previous week’s total was 257, which was within the range of weekly case numbers for the past four weeks.
Along with the increase in cases, hospitalizations have also increased to an average of one a day for the past two weeks, according to Rabbi Yehudah Kaszirer, Executive Director of Lev Rochel Bikur Cholim of Lakewood. During most of November and December, hospitalizations in the city occurred at a rate of two to three per week.
Governor Murphy visits Toms River to launch COVID vaccine
Governor Phil Murphy visited the Toms River last Wednesday, when the first COVID vaccines were administered to health workers at a clinic there.
“The health heroes being vaccinated here today would not be receiving this vaccine because they did not believe in its safety and effectiveness,” said the governor at the event. “Today, we are still a long way from our final victory,” said Murphy on Wednesday. “But there is no doubt that there is a light on the horizon in the form of these vaccines.”
Ocean County received 1,500 doses of the vaccine that health officials planned to give to frontline health workers over a five-day period.
The governor was accompanied at the event by Congressman Andy Kim, Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli and Freeholder Director Joseph Vicari.
The next phase of vaccine distribution is scheduled to include other essential frontline workers and residents over 75 years of age. There is no date for this phase and, as the state received fewer vaccines than promised by the federal government, the deadline may be delayed.
Last week, the first vaccines were administered to the team at the Lakewood CHEMED Health Center, with its CEO, Dr. Dovid Friedman, receiving the first injection.
“Although we expect demand to be high, there is a process that we must follow,” said county public health coordinator Daniel Regenye. “We hope that vaccine supply will continue to increase rapidly and distribution will do the same.”
Congressmen Smith and Kim welcome the approval of the COVID relief bill
Congressmen Chris Smith and Andy Kim were part of the vast majority that approved the long-awaited COVID stimulus package.
After the initial stages of financial relief in the CARES Act were passed, Congress was paralyzed for months as party leaders and the White House were unable to find common ground for additional funding.
After months with Republicans refusing to consider a Democratic bill and Democrats refusing to consider Republican demands, a bipartisan group of senators pushed for the approval of a bill, although thinner than the Democrats originally intended, and greater than Republicans.
Deputy Smith is a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, which helped to initiate dialogue for the negotiations and pass a final bill. He welcomed your passage.
“This long-awaited legislation has additional funding for accessibility and distribution of the COVID vaccine, money for schools so they can reopen safely and another round of direct payments for Americans who were hit hardest during this pandemic,” said Mr Smith. “This relief bill will also extend the successful Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which has kept many small businesses afloat with the desperately needed relief, and will add deductibility to PPP expenses.”
Despite obtaining wide-ranging approval after an agreement was reached between congressional leaders from both parties and representatives of the White House, President Donald Trump expressed disapproval of the $ 600 direct paychecks, requesting that the amount be fixed at $ 2,000, as Democrats initially asked for. That and the president’s complaints about foreign aid in the standard appropriations section led to a veto threat, but on Sunday night the president signed the bill into law.
Following a note from Democratic Party leaders and President-elect Joe Biden, Rep. Kim said that much more spending would be needed to adequately tackle the crisis.
“I voted in favor of this project because our working families, health leaders and small businesses need it, but it is woefully insufficient for the size of the crisis we are facing,” said Congressman Kim. “I am happy that we will see additional support for our unemployed neighbors and funding to distribute vaccines, but that has to be the beginning of these efforts, not the end. We need an American Marshall Plan to streamline vaccine shipment and ensure safe and equitable distribution of vaccines. We need to work to ensure that no one is left homeless or without food on the table because of this crisis. And we need a historic investment in jobs and support for small businesses to rebuild the main street businesses that define our communities. “