#HobokenStrong
Outside of Hoboken's insular, pandemic-proof political sniping, where one faction endlessly carps at City Hall, the nation got a peek at the real #HobokenStrong.
Last Tuesday, on Meet The Press, Hoboken Mayor Bhalla popped up on Meet The Press for an interview by guest-host Katy Tur.
Tur: "Why do you think you were able to keep your case and fatality rate down so low when you border the biggest hotspot in the country?"
Mayor Bhalla: "Well, I think it's a couple of reasons. One, is that we were the first municipality in the country to close our bars and restaurants. That was a decision which was a matter of not just days, but hours, in terms of saving lives. So the numbers are really showing on the back end. But really, it's credit to the residents of the city of Hoboken. They've taken our precautions very seriously in terms of socially-distancing. When you walk down the streets of Hoboken, you'll see the vast majority of people are wearing face coverings. They are really taking this as a serious, serious virus and fortunately in Hoboken, relatively positive results are showing."
For some perspective on Hoboken's relative success mitigating our coronavirus cases and fatalities, the data below about New Jersey is from today's New York Times.
Hudson County currently leads New Jersey in the highest number of covid infections and fatalities: 18,226 cases, 11,401 fatalities. Our City to-date has 569 known, confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 29 deaths. Make no mistake, the ability for any municipality, or country for that matter, to reduce the spread of covid comes from it's leadership's public policy.
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| https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/new-jersey-coronavirus-cases.html |
Anyway, the mayor's appearance on Meet the Press gave the Hoboken residents a chance to feel pride in our city's proactive policies- some pending NJ Gov. Murphy's lift of restrictions- to mitigate to COVID-19's shadow on our health, economy and mental health. The City plans include expanding sidewalks, closing streets ("StrEATeries"), creating parklets, and blocking streets to vehicular traffic, for businesses to "operate successfully in a socially distant manner."
Mayor Bhalla: "We've been at the forefront of not just in the city, but in the country, in terms of making sure every resident has access to a test. They have access to the results in 15 minutes. They have access to covid and anti-body testing. We're also bringing testing to seniors who cannot reach the site. We go to the senior buildings, test people at their doors, so anyone who's asymptomatic can be tested. So we're making sure that we're combining both the public health aspect of testing, along with making sure that when those streets are open or when those businesses are open they have enough real estate, enough space to do so successfully and in a safe manner."
Tur: "Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla. Thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it. "
Recall, it was only last year that Hoboken drew global attention for a sex act atop a bar counter.
Now we are an example to other municipalities across the country for our rapid covid mitigation policies which evolve with scientific understanding of the novel corona virus. Our city's quick action to protect public health was formulated with Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, Dr. Ashish Jha. Mayor Bhalla has consulted Jha from the get-go. I have no doubt that the mayor's choice to prioritize science over politics has saved lives.
CREDIT-MONGERS, CRANKS, ATTENTION-HOs: Please keep in mind that the Hoboken mayor is a figurehead who represents our entire City. He personifies Hoboken through our city's best and worst times pandemics, floods, sex scandals. And so when Hoboken's mayor tells Katy Tur "we" that means you, too. Feel better?
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