Enough with the public health emergency already (Opinion)

While you were getting ready for your weekend, Gov. Phil Murphy extended New Jersey's public health emergency another 30 days. This is the seventh time that Murphy has extended the emergency, and he does it at a time when things are actually getting better.

How much better? So much better that the White House leading infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci (who looks a lot like Yankee great Phil Rizzuto) told the governor during his "Live with Dr Anthony Fauci" Zoom show that New Jersey is in “good shape” and can continue to reopen its schools and economy “gradually, prudently, and carefully,” despite America facing a possible second wave of the virus.

The governor apparently made his decision to extend the emergencies without consulting the Republicans, leading New Jersey's Assembly minority leader, Jon Bramnick, to tweet this:

Then again, according to Bramnick, Murphy acts alone without accountability to anyone.

Bramnick came on my show Monday, Sept. 28 to give me his thoughts.

"Why can't we have government function normally? Meaning that, let's have open discussions, hearings and then decisions by the legislature and the governor. Not one person making decisions on something as important as shutting down society," he said. "It is way too many months to continue a State of Emergency. Let's get back to normal government, where people can have hearings, listen to debates and make a decision."

We've seen a dramatic drop in the numbers in the last 5 months. Why can't we do like Dr. Fauci says and open up more? If the governor sees a need to reinstate the public health emergency he can always do that. But for now, why not give the people of New Jersey a chance to get our lives and our economy back?

According to NJ.com:

"New Jersey has reported 202,100 COVID-19 cases out of more than 3.47 million tests administered since the state’s outbreak started March 4. That’s the eighth most cases among U.S. states.

 

The state of 9 million people has reported 16,097 deaths related to the virus — 14,306 lab-confirmed and 1,791 considered probable. New Jersey has the nation’s highest COVID-19 death rate per 100,000 residents."

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise. Any opinions expressed are Steve's own. Steve Trevelise is on New Jersey 101.5 Monday-Thursday from 7pm-11pm. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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