UPDATE: Another Murphy senior staffer has tested positive for COVID-19
Gov. Phil Murphy abruptly stepped off the stage of a public event Wednesday moments after he learned somebody in his senior staff who he was in contact with over the weekend tested positive for the coronavirus.
The governor was at Camden County Community College when he was informed by staff that a deputy chief of staff he was with Saturday tested positive. Murphy said the last time he took a COVID-19 test was on Monday and that he tested negative.
“I was just informed by my colleagues that I was in close proximity to someone on Saturday who has just tested positive,” Murphy said after attending the event for about 30 minutes. “I will now unfortunately have to take myself off the field."
The governor’s office issued a statement less than two hours later saying Murphy and the first lady were tested again Wednesday afternoon and that both tests came back negative.
Mike Delamater, his deputy chief of staff for Intergovernmental Affairs, is the senior staffer to test positive, Murphy’s office confirmed.
It’s unclear if other members of his staff were also exposed to the same person. The governor didn’t have any public appearances on his schedule over the weekend.
“Out of an abundance of caution and in line with the highest levels of commitment to protecting public health, the governor and first lady will be canceling their in-person events and voluntarily quarantining through the end of the weekend,” Mahen Gunaratna, Murphy’s communications director, said in a statement.
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The event was meant to announce millions of dollars in federal funding for workforce development. It was held outdoors on the Camden County College quad.
Murphy arrived around noon and mingled in close proximity to some attendees ahead of giving remarks. The governor and everyone he spoke with were wearing masks.
He left with his staff about a half-hour into the event.
“I can’t ask President Trump not to come to Bedminster and do a fundraiser, and have me sit here,” Murphy said, referencing his criticism of the president’s decision to fly to New Jersey for a fundraiser at Trump National Golf Club just hours before announcing he had tested positive for COVID-19.
Murphy called Trump’s decision “reckless." While the Trump’s diagnosis wasn’t announced until after the fundraiser, Trump aide Hope Hicks went into quarantine a day earlier after feeling mild symptoms and then tested positive the day of the fundraiser.
Murphy’s staffers said they plan to issue a statement Wednesday afternoon.
One of Murphy’s closest aides tested positive for the virus in early April. Matt Platkin, his former chief counsel, quarantined at home after he tested positive at the time.
The positive case of somebody in Murphy’s inner circle came a little more than a month after New Jersey had its first recorded case on March 4. It was the same day Murphy had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from one of his kidneys.
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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com.
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