Gov. Murphy: NJ Gets 2.6M More Tests That Could Be 'Game Changer'

Freehold NJ

28 September, 2020

12:46 PM

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NEW JERSEY – Gov. Phil Murphy announced that New Jersey will double its testing capacity after the Trump administration promised to supply the Garden State with millions of additional coronavirus tests this week. Murphy made the announcement as he revealed 561 new coronavirus cases and one more death on Monday (you can watch it here, below). Murphy said New Jersey has reached an agreement with the Trump administration to obtain 2.6 million BinaxNOW tests that can produce results in about 15 minutes. The tests will double the state's testing capacity, and Murphy believes that fact will help keep schools open as well as the economy. "This could be a game-changer," he said. Murphy's announcement came after nearly 2,000 new cases were reported in New Jersey since Saturday, the most for any three-day period since June. Read more: NJ Coronavirus, School Reopen Updates: Here's What You Need To Know Murphy announced 760 new cases on Saturday and 712 additional cases on Sunday – the highest daily totals since June 5th – as well as nine more deaths this weekend. New Jersey officials said there is no evidence yet of a second wave of COVID-19 despite a recent spike in cases that pushed the total past 200,000. Read more: NJ: No Second Wave Of Coronavirus Yet Despite Recent Case Spike Murphy said the 561 number was driven in large part by a possible outbreak in Ocean County, which had 242 new cases. State officials said they were deploying 20 more contact tracers to deal with the county's issues. Watch Murphy here: New Jersey Coronavirus Updates: Don't miss local and statewide announcements about novel coronavirus precautions. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.