New Jersey Schools to Remain Closed Through at Least May 15

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New Jersey schools will remain closed through at least May 15 as the state continues to see rising cases and deaths from the new coronavirus, Governor Phil Murphy said.

The risk is too great right now to reopen, Murphy said Thursday at a press briefing. The schools were ordered closed March 18 as the virus spread throughout New Jersey.

Murphy also reported a third straight day of more than 300 deaths from the new coronavirus. Fatalities from Covid-19 now total 3,518, more than the number of New Jersey residents who died in World War I, Murphy said. As of April 1, the state’s cumulative death toll was 355.

Even as cases and deaths have climbed, the virus’ spread has shown signs of slowing for more than a week. In most of the 21 counties, positive results are doubling in seven days or more, when they had been doubling every three days. Murphy, though, has warned that New Jerseyans must continue social distancing, and has said a scarcity of test kits will hamper regional governors’ plans to reopen the economy.

28,680 in U.S.Most new cases today

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-1.​126 Change in U.S. treasury bond yield since Wuhan lockdown, Jan. 23

The governor said he was ordering state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to investigate nursing homes with high numbers of coronavirus deaths. At least 17 bodies were found piled up in a makeshift morgue at a long-term care facility in Andover, in Sussex County. At least 68 deaths have been linked to the nursing home,according to the New York Times. In Union County, at least 12 residents were reported dead last week at Elizabeth Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

“I am deeply troubled by the high number of deaths at certain nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in the state, especially those with below-average track records for health inspections, staffing and quality of care,” Grewal said in a statement.

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