Town Continues Working Hand in Hand with Federal and State Counterparts to Ensure Community Remains Safe
WEST NEW YORK, N.J. — Following the announcement of a presumptive COVID-19/Coronavirus Diagnosis by Mayor Gabriel Rodriguez on March 8, 2020, the Town of West New York is releasing the following update.
The risk to the community continues to remain low at this time. The Town Administration in conjunction with the local Health Director, the State of New Jersey Department of Health, and the federal Centers for Disease Control continues to take proactive precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of the community and all its residents.
“Our team is working diligently around the clock with our public health authorities to ensure the health and safety of all our residents,” said Mayor Gabriel Rodriguez. “We want the residents to know that this is a top priority for the municipality and want to urge them to continue using common sense measures to ensure our community remains safe.”
The West New York resident who tested positive for COVID-19 is recovering positively and the local Health Department has remained in frequent contact with the individual throughout the process. Following the diagnosis, the Health Department initiated a full interview and investigation with the patient as per the appropriate protocol guidelines provided by the State to determine the individual’s timeline and assess the level of exposure to the community, which was concluded to be extremely limited. In order to comply with federal and state privacy laws, no other personal information about the patient can be disclosed at this time, however it is important to note that the risk to the community remains low.
Per the CDC, residents are advised to seek advice via telephone from a healthcare provider if you have symptoms of cough, fever, and/or shortness of breath or have traveled to/from an area with ongoing community level transmission of COVID-19 to determine whether a medical evaluation is needed. Only a medical professional can send a patient for testing and make a determination as to the diagnosis of an individual. The Town continues to urge residents to continue exercising common sense measures – wash your hands frequently, avoid putting your hands in your mouth and eyes, avoid contact with others if you feel sick, and maintain a clean environment through frequent disinfecting of common and frequently used areas with appropriate cleansing products.
Out of an abundance of caution, the Town has decided to implement the following additional protocols:
- Postponement of all Town of West New York (Municipal) Public Programming
- All Senior Citizens Programming (Excluding Nutrition Center/Daily Supermarket Runs/Medical Appointments (As Needed)).
- All Cultural Affairs Events & Programming
- All Recreation Activities & Programming
- All Library Activities & Programming
The State Department of Health has set up a 24-Hour Hotline for the community; that number is 1.800.222.1222. The State Department of Health has also developed a dedicated link to their website as follows: http://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/covid2019_resources.shtml.
For further questions, residents are further encouraged to call the Town’s Department of Health at 201.295.5070 or visit the Town’s website at http://www.westnewyorknj.org/.