New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday that he was exposed to someone who had tested positive for the coronavirus last weekend. Though the governor’s office said he and the first lady tested negative for COVID-19 Wednesday afternoon, the pair will cancel their in-person events and voluntarily go into quarantine through the end of the coming weekend.
Both Murphy and his wife plan to take additional COVID-19 tests before they resume any in-person engagements. Murphy was in Camden County for a noon announcement of $14 million in funding dedicated to workforce development when he said colleagues informed him of the virus exposure. The source of the exposure was a senior staff member, according to a release sent later in the day.
Murphy told the audience that he had no symptoms, and that he had taken a COVID-19 test that came back negative on Monday, which is part of his regular testing regimen. The governor, who condemned President Donald Trump for hosting a fundraiser in Bedminster earlier this month, said he couldn’t stay at the press conference. “I got to go take myself at least off the field and get tested again today,” said Murphy. “As you all know, if I was with someone Saturday night and got tested Sunday morning, that doesn’t really tell you a lot. You gotta wait and see to make sure there wasn’t any incubating.”
Later Wednesday afternoon, the governor’s office said Daniel Bryan, Murphy’s senior adviser for strategic communications, had tested positive for COVID-19. Bryan took the test out of an abundance of caution and remains asymptomatic, according to a news release, which also noted that contact tracing was underway, and that anyone, including members of the press, believed to have exposure as defined by Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines would be notified.
Prior to learning of his own exposure, the governor warned residents that the virus still loomed large, with hospitalizations in the state the highest they had been in three months, more than 1,000 new cases Wednesday, and 18 fatalities.
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