• It was important for Mayor Baraka to come on today to talk about a couple of important things – nursing homes and Be Still Mondays.

‍

• Nursing Homes

    o 71 deaths across the State of New Jersey in nursing homes/long term care facilities. Incredibly important because nursing homes house the elderly, disabled and folks that have a weakened immune system.

‍

    o In Newark we have 4 or 5 of these and most are under the jurisdiction of a private management company, but are monitored and overseen by the State of New Jersey.

‍

    o The City is getting ready to intervene. We’ve visited them and have been very disturbed by the conditions and the way they have taken care of our families.

‍

    o Please call and check on your family members, ask about procedures and policies. We have given protocols about cleanliness, isolation, quarantining, and contacting health providers.

‍

• Cases as of today

    o Newark:

       2,585 positive cases

       131 deaths

‍

    o Essex County:

       7,007 positive cases

       412 deaths

‍

    o New Jersey:

       58,151 positive cases

       2,183 deaths

• Be Still Mondays

    o Mayor Baraka is asking everyone to see the importance of staying in the house and to be still for at least one day. Collectively as a city, he’s urging everyone to join together for Be Still Mondays. Starting this Monday – the day after tomorrow – he’s calling for all businesses, essential and non-essential to close. This includes food stores and pharmacies, downtown corporations, and manufacturing companies.

    o The only exception would be health, safety, and welfare emergency services to close. So businesses that provide food and shelter for the homeless population can operate but we’re asking soup kitchens to limit their hours from 11:30AM to 2PM.

     o This will give essential workers a day of rest and will allow us all to stay safe. It’s one more try at flattening the curve and winning this war. CDC is recommending everyone stay inside for a week.

‍

• Mayor Baraka commends ShopRite of Newark (Neil Greenstein) for leading the way

     o ShopRite of Newark has agreed to completely close on Monday. Hopefully, all other supermarkets and bodegas will follow.

‍

• Garbage Collection

     o Be Still Mondays will kick off next week when it comes to garbage collection around the city. This Monday, garbage will still be collected as usual but next week be sure to put your garbage out on Sunday night between 6PM and 10PM if your normal collection day is Monday.

‍

• Inspiration

     o Check out the National Geographic article about the Spanish Flu of 1918

     o Angels of Bread by Martin Espada

     o Volver Volver by Ariana Brown

‍

• Mayor Baraka said that if he told you that he was not scared then he’d be lying to you. He said you should be scared, too. He’s fighting back and asking you to stand next to him, hold the line and swing with him against the coronavirus.

‍

Key Points in Spanish