Governor also announces end to taxing combat pay, disaster declaration
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
New Jersey will be receiving 2.6 million rapid COVID-19 tests that should allow the state to double its testing capacity over 12 weeks.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday, Sept. 28, that after talks with the White House over the weekend, the state would be getting the rapid antigen tests that are easy to administer and provide results in 15 minutes.
The tests require a nose swab, but it doesn’t have to go in as deep as the other COVID-19 tests.
The first batch of 170,000 tests should arrive in New Jersey within the next two weeks.
“If it comes to pass, as described,” Murphy said, “it could be a game changer.
“When you do the math, it’s just shy of doubling testing capacity for 12 weeks.” He added that will allow the state to increase tests quickly in hot spots, with health care workers and vulnerable populations and in schools.
They did not have an exact plan on how the tests would be distributed in the state.
One hot spot may be in Ocean County.
State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said over the past six days, of the 3,660 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the state, 28 percent were in Ocean County. Under questioning, neither Persichilli nor Murphy could provide definitive sources of the coronavirus cases.
Persichilli said the state’s “hot spot team” is increasing testing in the county and deploying more contact tracers.
Disaster declaration
The governor said the state, under guidelines from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is asking for a major disaster declaration to get about $32 million in funds to recoup costs for counties battered by Tropical Storm Isaias.
The storm hit Atlantic and Cape May counties – both of which are included in the counties designated for damage funding – and spawned a tornado that hit Upper Township.
Other counties that are part of the disaster declaration are Salem, Cumberland, Gloucester, Bergen, Burlington, Essex, Monmouth, Morris and Sussex.
According to Murphy, the baseline to qualify for disaster funding is when the damage exceeds $1.53 per capita.
Statewide, the per capita impact was $3.89. The damage was $3.87 per capita in Sussex County and as high as $32.42 per capita in Salem County. Cumberland, Monmouth and Gloucester counties each exceeded $10 per capita in damage, Murphy said.
Combat pay won’t be taxed
The governor announced a new state law that will permanently exempt combat pay from state income taxes.
Saying it is long overdue and shameful, Murphy said New Jersey “is the last American state to have done this.”
“This is a long-overdue measure for our active-duty women and men who literally put themselves in harm’s way in service to our nation,” Murphy said. “This is, at long last, a statement of our New Jersey values, values that honor service to our nation, and to our fellow New Jerseyans. This new law is a worthy complement to our ongoing efforts to ensure the service of our military men and women is properly honored once their days in uniform are over.”
The governor added that should include education, health care and other services veterans and their families may need.
He thanked a bipartisan group of legislators, including state Sen. Michael Testa, for working on the new law.