Tag Archives: Update

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An Update on the Covid Restrictions

By: Brie Wells

Update on the Covid Restrictions

As the anniversary of the Covid 19 pandemic rounds the corner, many Americans are questioning what the future will look like as vaccine rollout continues across the United States and covid regulations relax. With vaccine rollout expanding to child care workers, transportation workers, and additional public safety workers in the state of New Jersey as of March 15th, many wonder when the state can continue to reopen and students can start going back to school. According to New Jersey Covid 19 Informational Hub, New Jersey is in Stage 2 of Governor Murphy’s reopening plan. In stage 2 moderate risk activities are allowed to restart and all New Jerseyans are advised to wear a face covering and to participate in social distancing. New Jerseyans are also advised to work from home if it is feasible to do so. Since June 15th, 2020 relaxation of restrictions has been declared from the governor’s office, with the newest being announced March 19th, 2021, which states that the limit on general indoor gatherings increases to 25 people and increases the limit to general outdoor gatherings to 50 people according to Executive Order 225.

With the relaxation of restrictions continuing, many are questioning if Governor Murphy will take the lead of other states and radically lessen Covid 19 restrictions.  On March 2, 2021, the Texas Governor, Gregg Abott, issued Executive Order (GA-34), which lifted the mask mandate in Texas and increased the capacity of all businesses and facilities in the state to 100 percent. Similarly, in Mississippi, Governor Tates issued Executive Order 1549 on March 3rd, 2021 in which the mask mandate would be lifted in Mississippi. Other states such as Massachusetts, California, and Connecticut also continue to lift restrictions on restaurants and other businesses as vaccine rollout continues. According to the CDC Covid Data tracker, 127 million vaccines have been administered in the United States and the amount of Covid 19 cases have been decreasing generally in the past nine weeks. Although Covid 19 cases are generally declining, the CDC has advised against the rapid relaxation of restrictions in states like Texas and Mississippi. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control, said in a briefing on March 3rd,2021 that “We at the CDC have been very clear that now is not the time to release all restrictions.” She also went on to state that “The next month or two is really pivotal with how this pandemic goes as we scale up vaccinations, we really do need to decrease the amount of the virus that is circulating as we are trying to vaccinate all of the public.”

Seemingly Governor Murphy is following in the footsteps of the CDC and other states as he remains cautionary about reopening. In an interview with CNN, Governor Murphy stated “My guess is we won’t be opening up further capacities for some time now because of the caseload.” He then went on to say “We are back to leading the nation in the spread of this virus…” and, “We want to do this safely, responsibly, we don’t want to ever have to go back.” At this time New Jerseyans can expect restrictions to stay in place and should continue to hope that with more vaccine rollout and stricter control of variants within the Garden State, that it will hopefully lead to the arrival of Stage 3 on the road back to normalcy.

Update 

As the summer approaches Covid 19 vaccination rates continue to increase across the United States. According to the CDC, as of June 3rd, 2021  169,090,262 doses of the vaccine have been given out in the United States. In the state of New Jersey, according to the New Jersey Department of Health 8,755,436 doses of the vaccine have been administered in the State of New Jersey and the rates will continue to increase as the Governor continues to push New Jerseyans to get vaccinated. As vaccination rates increase and mask mandates restrictions relax, New Jersyeans can expect the arrival of Stage 3 of Governor Murphy’s Covid 19 Relief plan to be near in the distant future.

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Update On the Census, What You Need to Know

By: Gabrielle Wells

Outlined by our nation’s constitution, the Census counts the population of the United States and the five U.S. territories known as Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Every ten years the U.S. The Census Bureau takes on this task to understand the makeup of the United States and where each American lives. 

This count of the U.S. population not only counts the amount of people in the U.S. but it will provide information which will be used for federal funding, community funding, the appointment of representatives, and other programs which will help build public property such as schools, roads, and hospitals. In the 24th Census, the same problems have arisen, like it has done time and time again with undercoverage of different communities in this nation. Undercoverage is a situation that typically occurs when surveying a sample size, in which some groups of the population are not represented or are left out of the survey. With COVID-19 cases on the rise, the threat of undercoverage is even greater among the Trenton community, when it results in putting safety before practicing our constitutional rights.

Since March 12th, 2020 all United States households have received detailed information from the Census Bureau in the mail. The Census Bureau provided information on the different ways that the Census can be taken which includes by mail, phone and for the first time, online. On April 1st known as “Census Day,” the Census Bureau took account of how many people responded and devised plans to reach out to those who had yet to respond to the Census. As a result census workers went out into the community to ensure that the address list of the bureau was updated and that everyone has received an invitation to answer the census. 

Although The U.S. The Census Bureau prides itself on trying its best to accurately count the entire U.S.population, it abruptly ended all counting efforts for the 24th Census on September 30, which is a month earlier than expected. As of October 3rd, 2020 the U.S. Census website put the national average of self-response at 66.7% and reported that 98,500,00 households have been counted. In Mercer County, there is a 70% self-report rate and in Trenton, NJ there is a self-report rate of 47.7%. Overall in the state of New Jersey, the self-report rate is 69.1 % ranking it 19 out of 50 states for self-reporting. Although 2,700,000 households have self responded to the Census in NJ, with NJ estimated population around 8,882,190 that means many members of the population may still not have been counted even with a 99% enumeration rate. With 47.8% of the population of NJ using Self Reporting via the internet it begs the question of how much of the population who does not have access to the internet and is at risk for being undercounted, will be included in the Census.

According to four former Census Bureau Directors,” the lack of extending the Census reporting deadline will result in seriously incomplete enumerations in many areas across our country.” Former Census Bureau Directors Vincent Barabba, Kenneth Prewitt, Robert Groves, and John Thompson all put out a combined statement on August 4th, 2020 urging Congress to extend the legal deadlines for the 2020 Census and stating that the Census Bureau should be required to continue all data collection operations through October 30, 2020. Originally before the pandemic, the counting of the Census was supposed to be complete by July but the deadline was extended to October and recently concluded in September. 

With the 2020 election still being contested, proper allotment of representatives and federal funding is even more important, now more than ever to ensure the fairness of the United States democracy. As for now, according to the Census Bureau, the results of the 2020 Census will be available March 31st, 2021 but until then it is up to the American people to decide their opinions of the legitimacy of the 2020 Census.