New Jersey Enforces Public Health Measures As State Ranks Among Highest With COVID-19 Deaths
New Jersey requires mask mandates in schools, vaccinations for childcare workers, and more measures to help slow the spread.
This article was previously published on Dr. James Goydos’ Newsbreak.
Throughout the pandemic, the world has seen many approaches undertaken to help contain the pandemic. Some of the earliest measures to help slow the spread have their roots in history, such as those taken to fight the Black Death. Concepts such as social distancing and quarantine were commonplace during this time, despite a lack of sophisticated understanding of viruses in Medieval times.
Other public health measures which helped to reduce infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) built upon this knowledge, and led to the formation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States. Public health measures such as vector tracing, disease monitoring, and contact tracing have since been develop by the CDC and have been exported globally, helping to contain infectious disease.
Across the world, countries are taking many of the same approaches to help contain the coronavirus, from enforcing isolation of the infected to requiring masks to help prevent airborne transmission of the virus. The United States in no exception. However, in many cases, we are seeing different mandates from state to state, as well as differences in local mandates.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has required that all childcare workers will be required to be fully vaccinated by November 1, or will be subject to weekly testing for COVID-19. Additionally, as of August 23, all school personnel and state workers in New Jersey are required to be fully vaccinated.
These changes all come during a time when New Jersey ranks as one of the states with the highest rate of deaths attributed to COVID-19. As of October 2021, New Jersey ranks narrowly behind Mississippi.
Despite continual mutations of the virus and an increase in infection rates in many parts of the world, there seems to be a potential light at the end of the tunnel. Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has suggested that the end of the pandemic may be in sight by spring 2022 if the nation follows the proper protocols to help contain COVID-19, including getting vaccinated.
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About James Goydos, M.D.
Dr. James Goydos is an expert in melanoma research and specialist in surgical oncology with an M.D. from Rutgers University. With over 20 years of experience as a Professor, Surgeon, and Clinical Trial Lead, he is a leading expert in his field.
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