EAST ORANGE, NJ March 31, 2020: The urban mayors of four neighboring communities, East Orange, Newark, Orange, and Irvington announced a series of new measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The mayors pushed out the message in a video on social media platforms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk8n2H7fNiA&feature=youtu.be
Mayor Ted Green and his three colleagues Ras Baraka of Newark, Tony Vauss of Irvington, and Dwayne D. Warren of Orange divided up the plan into four “Operations” to organize their approach and enhance the seriousness of it. They are listed as follows:
Operation Lockdown:
Starting today, the four municipalities will jointly enforce complete lockdowns on their communities for seven days.
On April 7, the cities will re-evaluate the situation.
Until then, non-essential and non-emergency travel is barred on the streets of these communities.
Joint police units will patrol borders and other points.
Violators will face summonses and other legal action.
Operation Clean Business:
Essential businesses that are allowed to remain open must clean their premises.
To do so, they must frequently wipe down high touch points including doors and counters.
Employees and customers must practice social distancing.
At the close of the business day, owners are encouraged to sanitize their businesses.
Health inspectors will see that this is carried out.
Operation Wipedown:
Owners of senior citizen centers and complexes must sanitize public areas, including high touch points such as: mailboxes, elevators, doorknobs, and countertops three times a day with disinfectant.
Owners must sign compliance statements, saying that they have adhered to the order.
Inspectors will ensure that owners adhere to these policies, collecting compliance statements.
If inspectors find the owners have not taken required sanitization measures, the inspectors will cite the owners for appropriate legal action.
Operation Mobile Wellness Checks:
Police departments will conduct mobile patrols, making sure that people are practicing social distancing and enforcing Governor Murphy’s Executive Order.
Violators will be ticketed and face legal action.
