New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tests positive for COVID-19, is ‘asymptomatic’

Murphy took a speedy antigen take a look at Thursday afternoon after which a PCR take a look at, each of which got here again constructive, spokesperson Mahen Gunaratna stated. Murphy is feeling properly and does not have signs, he added.

The governor will cancel all occasions for the subsequent 5 days, his workplace stated. That is consistent with Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention pointers.

“The contact tracing course of has begun to inform everybody who might have come into contact with the Governor throughout the potential an infection window,” Gunaratna stated in an e mail, including that Murphy will “proceed to observe for signs earlier than taking an extra PCR take a look at.”

In latest days, Murphy has been posting photographs to social media displaying him rooting on the St. Peter’s males’s basketball group on the NCAA match, together with alongside fellow Democrats Meeting Speaker Craig Coughlin and Senate President Nicholas Scutari.

First woman Tammy Murphy examined constructive on Jan. 2. On the time, the governor’s workplace stated the remainder of the household examined damaging.

Murphy, 64, underwent surgical procedure to have a cancerous tumor faraway from his kidney in March 2020, simply as the primary circumstances of COVID-19 surfaced within the state. His workplace has stated the surgical procedure was a hit.

New Jersey’s coronavirus case counts, like these across the nation, have fallen dramatically since late final yr and particularly January when positives spiked to a report excessive. New Jersey has among the many highest proportion of its inhabitants vaccinated within the nation, and Murphy has been a serious booster of inoculation and COVID-19 precautions.

The state’s COVID-19 protocols, like masking in state buildings and colleges, have been principally withdrawn, with the exception that residents should put on masks on public transit.