Dear Residents & Business Owners:
GLOUCESTER COUNTY RESULTS
The Gloucester County Department of Health confirmed Friday morning that a resident with COVID-19 has died, the third fatality in Gloucester County. The patient was an 88-year-old female who was hospitalized with underlying medical conditions. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends and community.
As of Friday, April 3, 2020 the County has conducted 1,239 total tests. Of these tests, 1,028 have come back negative, 187 have come back positive, 24 are pending, with 3 deaths. Of the 17 new cases in Gloucester County overnight, 1 is in Harrison, bringing our total positive cases to 8. You can view the County Dashboard for updates to this information.
UPDATES ON THE LOCAL LEVEL
Our Township buildings will remain closed to the public, but our employees will now be working in staggered shifts for their own safety. Township business will continue uninterrupted, where possible. We will hold our next scheduled Township Committee Meeting this coming Monday, April 6th at 7 PM, but we will do so by way of conference call. In accordance with the law, the meeting has been publicized with the dial-in information included to allow any member of the public to dial in and ask a question during the Public Comment period, as they would during a normal (in-person) meeting. That Dial-in number is 425-436-6382 and the Participant Code is 209581.
I heard from Annalisa Rodano, Principal of Harrison Township Elementary School about a wonderful way to engage everyone in something positive. Her idea is to extend the annual Butterfly Challenge to our entire community. Worldwide, butterflies are a symbol of endurance, change, hope and life. Seems like the perfect thing now, right? Click here to learn more and take the challenge…..I am!
Lastly, we are adding a video component to our communication program at this time. In addition to the updates that I’m providing daily, we will be producing a video every few days that will include an interview with other community leaders. The first video was recorded with Dr. Missy Peretti, Superintendent of Harrison Township Schools. View that video here.
We’ve all gotten great feedback on the ABC6 news story last night. If you missed it, just go to our Facebook page. I’ve received dozens of calls/text/emails and they all say the same thing: “What an incredibly positive feeling it brought on!” The Tree is the symbol, but the spirit is US. How blessed we are with that and it will carry us through this and inspire others. Stay the course because we are Harrison Strong!
Together for Harrison Township,
Lou Manzo
Your Mayor
