Leprecon threat level down, Hoboken braces for deadly Coronavirus

The good news first...

LEPRECON 2020 
Big props to Hoboken and Union City Police Departments for their stupendous bar crawl containment effort, with results to show for it.  The Twitter account of HPD Chief Ken Ferrante runs down the numbers, comparing 2020's Lepre-invasion with 2019's:

2020 LEPRECON
377 calls for service  in 20 hrs  (18 service calls/hour), 
6 arrests, 
16 ordinances issued, 
12 persons taken to the hospital, 
32 moving violation summonses
0 sexual assaults

2019 LEPRECON 
322 calls for service in 16 hours (20 service calls/hr), 
4 arrests, 
12 ordinances issued, 
22 persons taken to the hospital, 
37 moving violation summonses
0 sexual assaults

None of the 6 arrested were Hoboken residents; two were from New York, four from New Jersey:

ARRESTS
Bronx, NY (31 years old)
Nanuet, NY(23 years old)
Newark, NJ, (31 years old) 
Kendall Park, NJ (24 years old) 
Lincoln Park, NJ (24 years old)
River Vale, NJ (22 years old)

It seems that as Hoboken incrementally reigns in it's annual Lepre-debauchery, the bar-crawl's Fun Index plummets.   hMag put it this way: LepreGone: Hoboken Pubcrawl continues to wither,  In a separate Op-Ed, Chris Halloran makes a strong argument for bringing the Hoboken Saint Patrick's Day parade back: "Hoboken can have nice things if everyone involved works together toward a common goal.

Working together is key- City Hall, police and bar owners.  Is there a containment strategy to keep 'outsiders' from coming in to trash our City and wreck our nice things?  Can we make our parade a Hoboken-centric event and not a tri-state bar-crawl?  If so, let's make Hoboken's St. Paddy's Day Parade Great Again.   

CORONAVIRUS 2020
People, COVID-19 is here; John Heinis is reporting today: "1st presumptive positive case of coronavirus in Hudson County diagnosed in West New York."

The CDC is no longer in containment mode- they are advocating mitigation strategies: please refer to  Preventing COVID-19 Spread in Communities.   While the virus presents as a mild flu in most cases, but some require hospitalization and the mortality rate in elderly appears to be much higher than 'normal' flu. In my opinion, folks may want to start planning for the worst case scenario, if your child's school closes, or you/your family have to self-quarantine.  In the meantime, City Hall issued this update last night:

UPDATE FROM MAYOR BHALLA REGARDING CORONAVIRUS PREPARATIONS

Below is an update from Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla regarding Hoboken's Coronavirus preparations:
Hoboken continues to closely monitor the latest developments regarding the Coronavirus to keep the public informed. Over the past several days, my administration and the City Health Department have been in close contact with Governor Murphy’s office and the New Jersey Department of Health to receive regular updates. Currently, there are no confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in Hoboken.

Under my direction, the City of Hoboken has formed a Coronavirus task force that consists of members of the Hoboken Health Department, Hoboken Police Department, Hoboken Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management, Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps, the Hoboken Public School District, Stevens Institute of Technology, and my office. All departments have begun preparations should the Coronavirus be confirmed in Hoboken. City staff continues to implement enhanced sanitizing procedures in public buildings.

According to the New Jersey Department of Health, the best thing residents can do is to stay home if you are sick. Symptoms of the Coronavirus could include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, which could appear in as few as two days or up to 14 days after exposure.

If you have symptoms like cough, fever, or other respiratory problems, please call your healthcare provider first instead of going to the emergency room. If you are having a medical emergency, please call 9-1-1. Additionally, if you are in Hoboken and believe you were exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19, you may also contact the Hoboken Health Department at 201-420-2000 ext. 5211. Healthcare providers with questions may also contact the Hoboken Health Department.



PLEASE NOTE: According to the State, there have been reports of individuals going door to door claiming to be from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) within New Jersey. The CDC is not deploying teams of people to go door to door to conduct surveillance. Please do not let anyone claiming to be from the CDC into your home. Please call the Hoboken Police Department at 201-420-2100 if you are aware of this occurring in Hoboken.


The following agencies have put out information regarding preparations for the Coronavirus:
Hoboken Public School District: https://www.smore.com/fuvmb-the-herald
According to the NJ Department of Health, additional precautionary measures should be taken on a regular basis, including:

  • Wash hands often with soap and water. If not available, use hand sanitizer
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands
  • Avoid contact with people who are sick
  • Stay home while you are sick and avoid contact with others
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing
  • Receive a seasonal flu vaccine (while the vaccine can’t prevent the Coronavirus, it can minimize the number of residents with flu-like symptoms)
  • Review and follow the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) travel advisories when planning travel. If you become ill after returning home, call your healthcare provider before going to a doctor’s office or emergency department of a hospital.

For additional information on safe practices and prevention, please visit the New Jersey Department of Health at http://www.nj.gov/health, which is updated on a regular basis. Residents with additional questions about the Coronavirus can also call the NJ Department of Health COVID-19 hotline at 800-222-1222. 

Thank you to all residents for your cooperation.

Comments

  1. How about Chris just go to NYC and enjoy their parade. We don't need the drunken mess that comes along w/ the parade in Hoboken. The bar owners and sponsors of those bar crawls may want the parade back, but nobody else really does.

    ReplyDelete

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