June 8, 2020 MESSAGE FROM MAYOR & COUNCIL - CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
Good afternoon today is June 8th, 2020. I am Mayor Paul Medany on behalf of Deptford Township Council we’re back with our regular updates on COVID-19 and news about Deptford Township.
Our COVID-19 battle is showing great success, especially in Deptford Township. Deptford has 517 confirmed cases but over 400 of them are in our long term care facilities. Gloucester County has 2,326 cases, New Jersey has 164,164 cases as of today.
Use our website www.Deptford-nj.org for information on COVID-19, municipal service requests and just information about Deptford Township.
We always ask you to get your news from reputable sources like newspapers or local news sites. Talk sites and blogs can be useful but we need fact based news in any situation let alone a crisis situation.
As we continue to meet the challenges in front of us, the most important task we have is to listen and communicate, that’s what we’re doing right now, to meet all of these challenges that are facing us.
Communication: Please contact your legislators at the state level and especially the Governor’s office. The numbers are 5th district 856-541-1251. The Governor’s office is 609-292-6000. Call them, give them your opinion or what you think should be getting done right now or not getting done. They want to hear from you.
We cannot forget we are still practicing social rules for preventing the spread of COVID-19 with all of the large gatherings going on and we witnessed people disregarding these rules at the gatherings we were at this weekend. Please try to follow them, wear a mask, try to stay apart, try to protect yourself.
We have lived through this for months now and we need it to be controlled. Remember this particular virus has no vaccine or cure. It is not leaving. It can only be controlled through social behaviors.
That being said it is not difficult to stay safe while gathering and shopping. Just follow the rules.
The dos and don’ts:
Don’t hug, don’t shake hands, don’t talk close, don’t touch your face.
Do wash your hands, do use hand sanitizers, wear a mask, and please stay 6 feet apart because that’s how it spreads through droplets.
We are facing an economic crisis also. It doesn’t feel like it with other major issues facing us, with the beautiful warm weather, and with the optimism of stores and bars opening that we’re going to see pretty soon.
But, we can assure you that there is an economic and budgetary price to pay for this shutdown. Trillion dollar stimulus packages are not free money. They are your tax dollars and there is going to be a bill to pay that is going to go from the Federal Government, to the State, to the County to the Local Governments.
Our local business need your help. Shop them for takeout’s and curbside pickup. If you shop online use a store that has a brick and mortar presence in Deptford Township, that helps them. These stores are our tax base and they employ thousands of people. We need them open and we need them open now.
Please turn in your census information, I’m going to give you some municipal tips that we need help with. This is extremely important to us economically, we need a correct count for things like government aid, program packages, and so much more.
Support your local newspapers and local news to get true factual information.
You will see “Thank you Deptford” signs around town. This is Township Council’s way of expressing our great appreciation to all of you for flattening the curve and being supportive of our local initiatives to keep our community safe and moving forward.
All of our municipal services are operating at full capacity with guidelines in place to protect employees and residents.
Code enforcement is always an issue at this time of year with high grass. If you have a problem property put in a service request for us to look at, we’ll answer you and we’ll go look at the property.
As always, we remain dedicated to making the decisions that keep us as one of the best municipalities in the region.
Please vigilant and safe, thank you Deptford and we will see you soon.
Stay informed:
Visit the Center for Disease Control website at https://www.cdc.gov
Visit the State Department of Health website at https://www.nj.gov/health/
Contact the NJ Coronavirus Center hotline at 800-222-1222
Sincerely,
Mayor Paul Medany & Township Council