Four New Jersey officials, East Orange Mayor Ted Green, Orange Mayor Dwayne Warren, Irvington Mayor Tony Vauss, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, have joined forces to announce a series of new measures to combat the spread of COVID-19.
The first of those measures is a complete seven-day lockdown. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka says all non-emergency travel between them will be barred with joint police units patrolling their shared borders. Violators will be issued summonses and could face legal action.
“We want to make sure that we are consistent, because we know we travel back and forth. Like east orange is like Newark, and Newark is like Irvington, and Irvington is like Orange, and we have relatives, cousins, uncles, family, and we go back and forth in these municipalities, and we’re carrying the virus around with us back and forth.”
The joint police forces have already stopped more than 15 hundred vehicles for non-essential travel. When asked if the measure is taking it the statewide stay at home order to far, Baraka says its not taking it far enough, adding that outside of universal nationwide testing, strict quarantine is the only way to beat the virus.
“We govern that especially in these areas so we can identify who actually has it and stop them from spreading it. We’re not doing that, and people are very cavalier about moving back and forth because we think we’re invincible, and spreading it so I don’t think its enough. As long as we save peoples lives that’s all I’m concerned about."
Baraka says the four municipalities have over half the cases in Essex County. The lockdown will be re-evaluated on April 7th