Message from Mayor Medany and Council - Coronavirus (COVID-19)

5/12/2020 - May 12, 2020 MESSAGE FROM MAYOR & COUNCIL - CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

Good afternoon everyone, Today is May 12, 2020, I am Mayor Paul Medany with statistics and information on our continuing pandemic.

The total number of cases in Deptford are 404. The number of cases in our long term care facilities are now over 300, as of today. Gloucester county is 1,710, New Jersey is 140,743, in New Jersey, as of today, 9,508 have died from complications of COVID-19.

Please visit our website for information on COVID-19, service requests, township news, other information there’s a lot of stuff on there for you to see.

Now let’s get you out some information quickly here.

Communication is always so important but during an emergency it is imperative that you get fact based information. Government exists to provide for the health, safety and welfare of all the people. Government must provide services, protection and leadership during a crisis.

Social norms have changed, and certain behaviors will have to change. Shaking hands, talking too close to someone, wearing gloves and masks in public places are just some of our habits that are going to have to change or become common place.

There is no scientific proof warm weather will kill this virus. Don’t get lax on gatherings and physical distancing this week because at the end of the week it’s supposed to go up to 80 degrees.   We have certainly slowed the spread here in Deptford, Deptford residents are doing fantastic, but the disease is here, don’t kid yourself and it is not going away anytime soon.

Let’s talk about staying safe methods.  Learn the correct way to disinfect. The virus is like grease. You have to scrub it or kill it. COVID-19 is a virus not bacteria.

A Coronavirus is encased in a lipid or fatty envelope. Soap dissolves the envelope making the virus less capable of surviving. 

Cleaning with soap solutions removes dirt and grime. Disinfecting kills bacteria’s and viruses. Use an EPA approved product, you can get them on their website.

Read the directions on disinfectants and soaps. Some disinfectants must remain on the surface for at least 4 minutes, some are sooner.

Coronaviruses naturally die but from hours to days on different surfaces like doorknobs, stainless steel and all the other surfaces that they can attach themselves to.

Remember the virus enters your body most commonly through your nose, mouth and eyes, that’s why we don’t want you to touch your face.

After cleaning and disinfecting we get to these personal protection methods.

Again, I just said it but don’t touch your face.

Two most important are washings hands correctly and physical distancing from others to avoid picking up the viral droplets that come out of your mouth. Wearing masks helps protect others but they are not guaranteed protection for you. You must distance yourself even with masks.

Cough or sneeze in your sleeve, if you use a tissue throw it away immediately.

If you are sick stay home, please. If you have COVID-19 symptoms call your medical professional immediately.

Also, these are some notes now: support local business please order from them online or get takeout’s from local restaurants or buy gift cards, all the local businesses need your help, no matter how big or small they are. If you order online do it from a local based business.

Buy newspapers at the store or get it delivered, we have our papers right here. We must have reliable, sourced news. Reporters are held to journalistic standards.  The fake news mantra is one of the most dangerous beliefs being pushed.

People are walking neighborhoods now more than ever, everyone’s out getting exercise with their families or alone. You must keep your pets on a leash and they cannot run loose. We are getting a lot of phone calls about this.  Please keep your pets fenced in, on a leash, they can’t just run loose.

Parks are open.  Playground equipment is off limits. We cannot disinfect it, so you can’t use it. Please don’t touch that caution tape.

We must get the economy back open, we all know this.  Call your legislators or email them, give them your thoughts either way, whatever your opinion is, but tell them your opinions. Some are open some are not, we need to get this this moving.

Always I tell you, read a book. My selection this week was Tom Brokaw’s “The Greatest Generation”, you can read about individuals who met the call of duty, great book.

 Now that being said we have to live with this new virus and take all these precautions as we open back up.  People are still going to get sick because we do not have a vaccine, but we must mitigate the exposures, use every precaution and defense and stay smart about it.

 We must ask questions. It is our right and duty as citizens. Why is there not testing and contact tracing everywhere at this point? Why are we not able to purchase disinfectant products and masks right off the shelf yet? Don’t be afraid to ask questions, that’s what we are supposed to do, and we’re supposed to ask that of our leaders.

My last thing is, I say let’s get the flag flying up to full mast. It is our countries symbol of courage, hope and bravery which we need more now than ever to meet this challenge.

So, stay safe, stay apart, stay together, and we’ll see you soon at the next video.