We will be plotting these numbers over a timeline. We believe and hope that this will put some of the daily numbers into a broader and better context. First, here we go. Here are the raw numbers. 3026 neware reporting confirmed test result and the statewide total is now 81,420. 10 00 hospitals as of p. M. Last evening, 7718 residents were hospital his eyes hospitalized. Two thousand 24 were in critical 1641 ventilators were in use. 90 patients are at one of our field medical stations and for the 24 hour period ending at 10 00 p. M. Last evening, 814 residents were discharged from our hospitals. Lets do this differently and put these numbers into proper context. The first graph we are showing rate of growth of new cases over the past 21 days. As you can see, we are flatten the curve. This is a credit to each and every one of you who has taken to heart our aggressive social distancing measures and who continue to do your part so thank you. Again, these are dailies. The bars are the amounts per day of positive test results and the fits is the one that through that set of bars over three weeks. Chart wen second will pull up, this is the daily rates of new hospitalizations. As you can see we have been able to create some stability here as well. There is a direct causeandeffect relationship between the first graph and this graph. The slower the rate of new cases, the slower the rate of infections, the slower the rate of new hospitalizations. I beds required, ventilators required, and these that result. It is literally almost a mathematical derivation exercise. As personal as each one of these cases are, they have a name, a face, they are human beings and belong to the beloved new jersey community, at the same time, we can derive formulas and models ly. This chart plots the number of new hospitalizations against the number of daily discharges. As you can see over the past three weeks, we have been able to move these lines closely together to the point we are now reporting more people leaving the hospital and entering. Finally, here are the daily number of patients in intensive and Critical Care over the past 21 days. Throughout the past week, we have seen these numbers begin and i say begin to stabilize. Graphs are what we need to see and they are why we must keep up our aggressive social distancing. So far, so good, we just cannot let up. This map which you have been seeing for the past number of to why what weds are doing is working. This is the time it is taking each county to double across the state. The numbers are a little bit small. You will see numbers ranging from nine days to double all the double. T 19 days to the higher that number is, the better it is. Lets keep that map as light as possible and those numbers continue to go up. That is thanks to everybody out there. It is your efforts that are leading to these results. We just have to stay at it. Not forever, that we have to stay at it for now. Hearts, thisiest is dated that we also have to report. We continue to lose residents to colby 19 covid19. Another 231 precious lives lost and we have lost a total of 4070 blessed souls. It is a number that takes your breath away. Is of these who we have lost fire captain richard campbell. He was a 28 year veteran firefighter. Firefighting and Public Service ran in his blood as he followed his father in the line of service as did his brother who sadly passed last year. Mayor tom lanky said that his short a hero. S out of thick there could ever be better words by which to remember him. Condolencesdeepest to his wife kimberly who i had the honor of speaking with this morning and therefore children who range in age from 27 down to 11. I want you to keep arianna in a special place in your heart as you pray for this family. May richard rest in peace and may his memory bring comfort to his family and to all who knew him. God bless him. Here is another member of our family. He was 77 years old when he passed on monday. For 36 years he was a forensic scientist at new Jersey State Police is police North Regional Library and the team knew him well. He is remember by many for his dry sense of humor. He was a vietnam veteran and his wife reminded me, as a result of all of the cold morbidity that you have been warning about that made him my direct target of this awful virus. The continued service to our nation in the u. S. Army reserves rank of the link lieutenant colonel. He was dedicated to the committee of maywood, he served on the maywood board of education on the Recreation Commission and is an assistant boy scout leader to troop 12. What a servant. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, i spoke with her this morning. He is also survived by their children, his daughter and his son, u. S. Navy lieutenant who is deployed at the moment. Keep them in your prayers. May god bless them all. Marybeth beth said one of the great memories of his life was when he was on the board of education, he got to hand eat his daughter and son there isil diploma. Hand eat his daughter and son their high school diploma. Alex grew up in union city and even though he lived in glenridge, he remained committed to his first hometown in a big way. After joining Union City Police in 1999, 21 years ago, he is one of the original members of the Emergency Services unit and at the time of his passing was serving as a detective in the training division. He leaves behind two adult giuliano with who i had the honor of regan, the honor of speaking. And his son alex who is in philadelphia. He is remembered by his colleagues for his softspoken and genuine. He was only 52 years old. We haves you alex and your memory and your children in our deepest prayers. Each of these lives epitomized service. We know every Single Person we have lost in this pandemic has been a cherished and invaluable member of their communities as well. Ways largeve back in and small. For that we thank them and honor them. We commit to them that we will do everything in our power to stop the spread of this disease and lose fewer and fewer residents to it. Throughout this emergency, i have been in contact with mayors and elected officials of all shapes and sizes. Mayors up and down our state and they have all reported to me that the overwhelming majority of their residents recognize the vital importance of doing the right thing. It is staying home even when it stops being fun. For that we are deeply appreciative, thankful, and respectful. Friend and coach reminded me that he is still hearing from too many people who continue to think that it is just the flu and that they dont have to change their habits. He suggested for us to remind you why that is not the case. Let me speak in particular directly to anyone who is sticking to this way of thinking. I cannot put it more bluntly. Based on everything we know at this time, that point of view is wrong. Surely we see flu outbreaks every year and yes people die of the flu every year. The flu has not because of the devastation we are seeing. Especially among our most vulnerable populations. Look at the longterm care facilities. Look at veterans homes if you need any proof. The data we are seeing, the numbers and the science prove how this is a different enemy. Take a couple of numbers to heart, if i can. Lostst six weeks, we have 4070 listed New Jerseyans to covid19. That is more than the cdc statistics show we have lost flu seasonst three in their entirety combined. Moreow that covid19 is virulent than the flu and one person can impact many more without showing any symptoms. Unless someone is exposed, it to take a long time, 14 days develop this illness. The hospitalization rate for covid19 is far greater than what it is for the flu. The general hospitalization rate for the flu is 1 10 of 1 of cases. Already look at the numbers we present for covid19, it is roughly 10 . 100 more timesor likely to end up in the hospital based on what we now know. Finally, this is probably the most obvious point, we have vaccines that can protect against the flu. We have proven antiflu therapies. We are at least one year away if not longer from a vaccine for covid19. While there are promising earlystage trials, there are probably no proven therapeutics. This is a pandemic the likes of which we have not seen in a century. If you have been keeping your eyes and mind close to the facts and the science, i beg you to open them. Open them wide before you become one of the numbers that i report here every day. I know judy and ed would want me to remind you, will we learn more, the answer is yes. Yes, over time the contrast between covid19 and coronavirus outthe year end and year may change. Before we get a vaccine, god willing, we will get therapeutics. There are some studies out now that claim that more folks have been infected unwillingly are asymptomatic but have been touched by this already. There is a big debate about will warm weather impacted this and it is an open question. No experts will give you a definitive answer and say yes or no to that effect. In the meantime, please trust us a somewhat we now know. The every day flu which could be a big challenge is in a completely different category than what we are talking about here. Got that off my chest, a couple of other items i wanted to quickly brief you on. I had a concerning call from Chuck Schumer that there is not momentum right now in congress to put any amount of money into direct state aid and that would lead unequivocally to a national disaster. As i mentioned, we are looking at what the Federal Reserve has presented to us in terms of a potential Municipal Bond program. I was happy to see the speaker say yesterday that he was looking forward to working toward a responsible plan, i think that is a good word to use. We need that now more than we did 24 hours ago. When you hear that congress, i will not get political, there is one part of congress that does not see the wisdom to put direct money into states. Let me tell you the alternative. Particularly if we cannot borrow that, we will have layoffs will be historic in the history of our state, at the county level, and at the local level. I dont know how many, but it is big, big numbers. I plead this is not either or. We need both direct Financial Assistance to states from a bill passed by congress and signed by the president and we will need bonding flexibility in either case. I would just plead with folks on both sides of the aisle to please step to that reality sooner than later and make that happen. Ave been back and forth secretary Robert Wilkie of the veterans affairs, he and his team have been back and forth with our team and helping us work through the veterans homes in particular. More on that over the coming days, but i want to give him a big shout out. As angry as we are, and i can speak on behalf of all of us, at the bad apple longterm care facilities operators as angry and frustrated as we are about the completely inconsistent and unacceptable level of communication, it must be said like any community, there are good apples and good actors. I want to make sure the coaches realized that. With time, we will find ways to shout them out. Regardless of the operator, there are heroic healthcare workers not just in hospitals, but in longterm Healthcare Facilities who are going in day after day to do the lords work , in particular, our most vulnerable and i want to make sure i say that. I made to the other day that life goes on, away from this awful virus. Deaths,ludes births, again, life goes on. I had two striking calls yesterday. Friend,a very good ,heriff gilbert whose wife president of the board of education, past due to a heart i spoke to hisd. Daughter. It was a stark reminder that life and death go on even away from this virus. Martha and god keep his daughter and her family in your hearts. Olivia wholl was to is seven years old who wrote me an incredible note. It reminded me that young kids are watching. I spoke to her and her mom. Marywin and her big sister that is a good reminder folks of all ages are paying attention. They are following this. She wanted to reach out and she sent me a note to say we are with you in this and hang in there and it was an incredible conversation and it was starker coming on the back of just coming off of the phone. The young, the old, the here, the now, the outflows, the omegas in our society who are swept up by this virus and those who are swept up by life. I have no new announcements beyond that. I want to remind everybody on testing, there are roughly 70 testing sites up and running across our state, both privately and publicly accessible. A complete list of the publicly accessible site can be found at. Gov testing. Right aid is beginning an appointment only Testing Program at three of its locations. A store in Bergen County opened its program today. And barrington is set to open on monday in ocean county to follow on wednesday. These sites will be added to our online list and you can go to aid. Com for more information and to make an appointment. Your primary Care Practitioner can direct you to many other sites should you meet the requirements for covid19 testing. We continue to work aggressively to ramp up testing capabilities as we know having a strong testing regime in place is critical for us moving forward as we begin to plan to reopen our state. The order of events is crack the back of this virus. And, the new cases down please god, fatalities to a much lower number. Make sure we have in place the proper healthcare infrastructure. Rapidscaled testing, contact tracing, a means to quarantine and isolate. Those elements must be in place. With that, we can have the conference confidence that we can begin to open up again. We continue to ask for volunteers with medical experience to join our army against covid19. Specifically we need respiratory therapists, nurses, and paramedics. If you have experience, please. Gov and in19. Nj doing so, well be adding your name to the healthcare workers who have volunteered with us. For those of you who want to start giving back to your community, not necessarily because you are a ok worker but you want to get back, please. Gov help and9. Nj we will match you with whetherities near you it be people with special needs or those hoping to start a local food pantry, these are critical needs. Before i turn things over, i want to mention a young man in Cumberland County we who we should be celebrating today. It is his 12th birthday. He is a sixth grader in middle school. He had an unusual request for birthday presents. He asked for his neighbors to bring him boxes of pasta and cans and jars of tomato sauce that he will donate to the soup kitchen. Toant to give a shout out the guy that sent this my way, the president of the board of trustees of the soup kitchen. Since the emergency started, the soup kitchen is serving 120 meals to almost double that, if not more. He set up his cable outside of his house and yesterday alone, more than 100 people drove past and dropped off with social distancing some birthday presents for him. He is back at it again today so if you are in south jersey, go wish him a happy birthday from a distance. Make sure you have your face covered. Atis our east grand avenue south main road. His dad, another friend of mine, is a firefighter. The apple of service does not fall far from the tree. Wish you the very happiest of birthdays and we thank you. If you know someone like dominic making a difference, tell us their story on social media. It is these stories of hope and optimism and service to community that are drawing us together even as we have to stay apart. To everyone doing the right thing to help us flatten and eventually break the back of this curve, thank you. Your efforts are making a real difference. It is how we will defeat covid19 and come out strong and ready to get our state back on its feet, back to where it was, and back to where we know it can be again. With that, help me welcome the woman who needs no introduction, the commissioner of the department of health. Thank you, governor. Good afternoon. Each day i read race and ethnicity statistics that demonstrate the just proportion impact that the coronavirus is having on communities of color. I would like to put that in more context this afternoon. Studies have shown for years that the social conditions in which people are born, learn, live, work, and age affect their health. In other words, your zip code sometimes matters more than your genetic code. These social determinants of health, economic stability, education, healthcare, social support, and Environmental Issues like air pollution in cities that contribute to high asthma rates place an additional layer of Health Concern on top of this pandemic for new jerseys communities of color. Lady and, the First Lieutenant governor, Human Services commissioner Karol Johnson and i discussed these issues tuesday night with senator ron rice and the new Jersey Medical association. The new Jersey Medical association is a chapter of the National Medical association, the largest and Oldest National organization representing africanamerican physicians and their patients in the u. S. We were joined by their campbell, and the bay, dr. Position, dr. Page, dr. Cook, dr. Roesch, dr. Natalie duncan, and dr. Hutchinson. These physician leaders raise important issues and we share their concerns and we will be working on their suggestions. The members of the association are basically trying to rely on telehealth in their urban environments and share with us how difficult that is. They support more testing in community clinics. They called out areas that we should be focusing and they talk about the importance of staying at home and social distancing but that that is very difficult to do. We will continue to work with senator rice and the new Jersey Medical association to do everything in our power to reduce the just proportionate impact that the coronavirus is having on communities of color. We must ensure that all of our communities stay safe and healthy during these difficult times. As the governor shared for todays report, our hospitals 7017 hospitalizations last week. On the a 3 decrease daily growth rate for the past two da