VIRUS UPDATE: PANDEMIC TOLL CLIMBS

Mar 26, 2020

With blood supplies running low because of the pandemic’s impact on regular drives, about 50 people made appointments for well-spaced donations at Red Bank’s YMCA Thursday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

[See UPDATE below]

By JOHN T. WARD

COVID-19 continued to ravage New Jersey, with 19 more deaths from the global pandemic reported Thursday.

The number of state residents who have tested positive for the coronavirus soared to 6,876, an increase of 2,492 from Wednesday, Governor Phil Murphy said in his daily briefing.

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March 26, 2020 - 3:00 pm |

VIRUS UPDATE: DEATH TOLL & CASELOAD RISE

Mar 25, 2020

Flowers in bloom alongside a nearly vehicle-free Harding Road in Fair Haven Wednesday morning. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The COVID-19 pandemic toll continue to rise, as Governor Phil Murphy announced 18 new deaths in New Jersey Wednesday.

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March 25, 2020 - 3:00 pm |

VIRUS UPDATE: MONMOUTH SEEKS GEAR

Mar 25, 2020

Joggers crossing the relatively quiet Route 35 Cooper’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown Tuesday evening. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Contrary to an anti-COVID-19 directive by Governor Phil Murphy, Monmouth County officials said Wednesday that they are “starting to see” signs of non-residents relocating to vacation homes.

They also issued an appeal for medical supplies to help protect front-line testers and healthcare providers.

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March 25, 2020 - 11:01 am |

VIRUS UPDATE: COVID-19 DEATHS UP AGAIN

Mar 24, 2020

[See UPDATE below]

By JOHN T. WARD

With the deaths of 17 more New Jersey residents over 24 hours, Governor Phil Murphy “can now give you 44 reasons” in support of unprecedented and wide-ranging restrictions he’s imposed in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, he said Tuesday.

That was the highest single-day statewide tally of fatalities in the global coronavirus pandemic, he said.

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March 24, 2020 - 3:05 pm |

VIRUS UPDATE: COVID-19 DEATH TOLL RISES

Mar 23, 2020

The Fair Haven post office now has a plastic barrier to minimize contact between customers and employees. (Reader photo. Click to enlarge.)

[See UPDATE below]

By JOHN T. WARD

Seven more New Jersey deaths were recorded as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continued to grow, state officials said Monday.

Two days after issuing an unprecdented executive order aimed at slowing the spread of the pandemic, Governor Phil Murphy said he was also barring all elective surgeries and invasive procedures, both medical and dental.

The state Attorney General also announced new actions to free some county jail inmates and prosecute alleged violators of Murphy’s virus-prompted orders.

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March 23, 2020 - 1:25 pm |

ON THE GREEN: SCENES FROM THE PANDEMIC

Mar 23, 2020

Panic? What panic? In the hours before and after Governor Phil Murphy’s “stay-at-home” order issued Saturday, redbankgreen‘s wandering lens found few outward signs of the anxiety that has certainly gripped the Greater Red Bank Green and much of the planet. In fact, an air of serenity pervaded the streets.

Above, a couple passed through the breezeway on East Front Street heading toward Marine Park in Red Bank, while a notice on the door of Jack’s Music Shop announced its closing, as mandated by Murphy’s order.

Check out more photos taken Friday, Saturday and Sunday below. (Photos by John T. Ward and Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)

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March 23, 2020 - 9:00 am |

RED BANK: HOPEFUL MESSAGES IN CHALK

Mar 23, 2020

Their activities limited by the COVID-19 pandemic and Governor Phil Murphy’s “stay-at-home” order issued Saturday, neighbors on John Street in Red Bank decorated their walks and driveways with art and encouraging messages Sunday.

“A chalk walk is a perfect, socially-distanced way to get out of your house, and gives the kids something fun to do and see,” says resident Kate Mills.

More photos below. (Reader photos. Click to enlarge.)

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March 23, 2020 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: COVID-19 CASELOAD GROWS

Mar 22, 2020

[See UPDATES below]

By JOHN T. WARD

One day after Governor Phil Murphy issued a wide-raging executive order requiring all New Jersey residents to “stay at home,” his administration reported Sunday that the known number of statewide COVID-19 patients rose by 590, to 1,914.

Four new deaths from the coronavirus within the Garden State were also reported.

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March 22, 2020 - 3:00 pm |

VIRUS UPDATE: MURPHY ORDERS ‘STAY HOME’

Mar 21, 2020

[See UPDATES below]

By JOHN T. WARD

With the number of COVID-19 cases continuing to climb, Governor Phil Murphy on Saturday ordered all New Jersey residents to “stay at home.”

He also asked those who might be looking to the shore area as a refuge not to head there.

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March 21, 2020 - 2:25 pm |

RED BANK: BOROUGH’S FIRST CASE REPORTED

Mar 20, 2020

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank has its first resident COVID-19 case, the borough government reported late Friday.

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March 20, 2020 - 10:40 pm |

VIRUS UPDATE: HOLMDEL TEST SITE TO OPEN

Mar 20, 2020

Phil Murphy in Red Bank in 2017 during his run for governor. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

[See update below]

By JOHN T. WARD

With the number of COVID-19 cases continuing to climb, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced a plan to open drive-thru test site in Holmdel Monday.

Speaking at Bergen County Community College following the opening of the state’s first drive-thru test center on Friday, Murphy said the state’s caseload rose by 155 from Thursday, to 890, with two additional deaths.

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March 20, 2020 - 3:25 pm |

RED BANK: TAKEOUT, ANYONE?

Mar 19, 2020

Good Karma Café on East Front Street doing takeout-only business Sunday. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

You need to eat, and restaurants, facing dire prospects during the COVID-19 pandemic, need customers more than ever before.

Downtown promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter has compiled a list of borough eateries showing which are open for takeout business and which offer delivery.

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March 19, 2020 - 3:25 pm |

VIRUS UPDATE: CASE NUMBER RISES

Mar 19, 2020

The view through a patient’s windshield outside Integrated Medicine Alliance in Red Bank Wednesday. (Reader photo. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Four more New Jersey residents have died as the statewide number of COVID-19 cases soared in the last 24 hours, state health officials reported Thursday.

Governor Phil Murphy said at a press briefing in Trenton that the number of cases rose to 742, up from 427 Wednesday, including 11 additional cases in Monmouth County, which had 43.

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March 19, 2020 - 2:23 pm |

VIRUS IMPACTS: EMPTY STREETS DOWNTOWN

Mar 17, 2020

“It’s like 6 o’clock on a Sunday morning,” Brian Benjamin, of Two River Mortgage and Investment, said of downtown Red Bank.

In fact, it was around 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Day. Numerous businesses were closed, with no immediate plans to open, given Governor Phil Murphy’s executive order of Monday, mandating far-reaching limits on activity to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

But the New Jersey transit bus to Asbury Park was still running, with a mask-wearing driver at the wheel. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

March 17, 2020 - 10:05 am |

VIRUS IMPACTS: QUIET STREETS AT CURFEW

Mar 17, 2020

It’s not that no one was out on the streets of the Greater Green Monday night. Around 9 p.m., an hour into a voluntary curfew encouraged by Governor Phil Murphy earlier in the day, one could still see moving cars and the occasional pedestrian or cyclist.

But it was also possible to stand in the middle of Broad Street, above, or Shrewsbury Avenue, below, in Red Bank for long intervals without fear of being run over.

“It’s like the zombie apocalypse,” one pedestrian said of the eerie quiet.

At right, a woman and her cellphone had the No. 1 Chinese restaurant in Fair Haven all to herself. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

March 17, 2020 - 7:45 am |

RED BANK: URBAN OUTFITTERS STORES CLOSE

Mar 14, 2020

The Urban Outfitters store on Broad Street in Red Bank is among the 200 locations in the United States, Canada and Europe that the retail clothing chain will shut down to address the global spread of COVID-19, the parent company announced Saturday evening.

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March 14, 2020 - 7:29 pm |

RED BANK: FOODTOWN STATEMENT

Mar 13, 2020

Nearly empty shelves in the produce department at Red Bank Foodtown Thursday night. (Photo by Matt Anderson. Click to enlarge.)

Foodtown in Red Bank is “working hard” to ensure a steady supply of essential products and has intensified its cleaning and sanitizing efforts in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Broad Street supermarket said in a statement issued Friday.

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March 13, 2020 - 11:50 am |