Good afternoon Voorhees. It’s your Deputy Mayor Michelle Nocito. I wanted to bring you another update on COVID-19 cases here in Voorhees and in Camden County. We also wanted to bring another update on our Mayor and his continued fight with this virus.
In Camden County, we have 1,478 positive cases reported as of April 14th. The county reported 95 new cases with 6 of those new cases coming from Voorhees, bringing our total to 111 cases. Unfortunately, we do have to report that to date, we have lost 4 Voorhees residents in COVID related deaths and we extend our sincere condolences to their families during this very difficult time.
On April 14th, Governor Murphy signed into law legislation extending protections of the Family Leave Act, allowing for up to 12 weeks of unpaid family leave for employees forced to take time off to care for a family member without losing their job. The intention here is to help ensure that NJ Residents will not be in a position to have to choose between caring for their loved ones, and their jobs in crises such as the COVID-19.
Today’s message from Mayor Mignogna as he continues his recovery at home and is so grateful for the overwhelming love and support. We have been sharing stories of how you have stepped as a community to help one another and he asked that you continue to do what you can to help one another out. As the Governor said on Monday, we are going through hell and back together, so let’s do this right so we only have to do this once. Remember asymptomatic carriers are a concern so please make sure you wear face masks when you are out on essential business. You could be spreading the virus without even knowing it.
Our schools are returning from their stay-at-home Spring Break this week and today we applaud all of the parents in town who are finding their inner teaching and tutoring skills, and we applaud our K-8 district and Eastern for their dedication to our students and their education. Necessity is the mother of invention and we recognize that our school districts and our residents have been adjusting to this new educational landscape and doing their very best. One of my favorite things to tell my own children is “do the best you can, to do the best you can”.
We know it’s difficult and that you and your families miss visiting so many of the special places that we all enjoy here in town, but we implore everyone to stay diligent in their social distancing efforts so that when we come back together as a community, we are stronger and healthy.
