OG boards at night. 2013. Our boards are narrower than many including A. Park which is now closed. It’s a recipe for failed distancing. Paul Goldfinger photo. ©
By Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor @Blogfinger.net
It was a warm day this Sunday, April 19, and the OG beach and boardwalk were open whereas neighboring towns boardwalks were closed.
Our recent poll showed that 60% of OG participants thought that the OG boardwalk should be closed. Bradley Beach, Asbury Park and Belmar have closed their boardwalks, but not their beaches. Ocean Grove has both open
A Grover who was present today called it a “mob scene.” He said that it was “really unbelievable.”
Evidently, some local news outlets were “encouraging out-of owners to come here to go strolling; makes no sense!”
Another Grover said that it was “like the 4th of July”
This is worrisome because New Jersey’s coronavirus stats are the second highest in the nation, and the Jersey Shore’s (Monmouth and Ocean) total cases have risen today to 9,317 with 241 dead.
It is outrageous that the Camp Meeting Association and Neptune Township have kept our beach and boardwalk open, creating risky business not only for those who visited today, but also for the people of Ocean Grove.
We are siphoning positive cases from other towns to spread the virus in our town. This is a disgrace, and those of you Grovers who care should notify both entities of your displeasure and also to send messages to the Governor.
If any of you were eyewitnesses at our beachfront today please tell us about it at Blogfinger@verizon.net or comment below. And send photos if you have any.
Let us know if visitors were wearing masks and practicing the 6 feet rule in the Grove.
JIMMY AND THE PARROTS:
Kevin: Our post said, “Whatever crowds showed up yesterday contained an unknown number of infected people, some of whom are free of symptoms* so far and are capable of giving the disease to others.”
And you believe that means “only visitors are infected?” Do you believe that we are that stupid? Or maybe you are unable to understand the medical facts of the situation.
You are purposelessly trying to deceive our readers by distorting the truth in order to make your point.
If you want your opinions to be aired on Blogfinger, you will have to be careful to avoid such deception.
Neptune has over 27 thousand people and only 243 cases in the Township. That is not deaths only people with symptoms. Then why close the beaches or boardwalk for such small numbers?
And the idea that only visitors coming to our town are infected and will endanger OGers who are free of infection just doesn’t cut it. It could be just the opposite. It could be OG people giving the virus to visitors.
All this speculation based on what could be should stop.
It is not your right to deny me my rights.
Kevin Chambers
My impression on Sunday was that roughly 60% of the exercisers had their faces covered.
Of those exercising who had their faces covered, about 80% were wearing surgical-style masks and the remainder wore bandanas, scarves or balaclavas.
Unless walking in twos or more (couples/families), exercisers appeared to be socially distancing.
I can’t figure out if this would be a good sequel to Dumb and Dumber, or LaLaLand….maybe both….
First let me say I liked the old Grove, gates closed on Sundays; it was low key and quiet. No worries about parking because there were no cars. I also like the beach closed til 12:30 on Sundays; thankfully that’s still in place.
Regarding civil rights take note it’s also my right to sit on my porch and not be swarmed with what looked like the NYC Marathon on Sunday followed by cars, bikes, tons of people ripping through town.
In Spring Lake you can’t even park or pull over on the street, let alone the boardwalk.
There’s a reason California, a state with 40 million, have have such low rates of infection THE BEACHES ARE CLOSED. So unless you’re an MD or scientist, maybe hold off on the civil rights chatter. It doesn’t take much to spread the virus around whether you’re on the boardwalk or not.
Since Friday morning, April 17, State officials have reported 9,984 more COVID cases and 684 more deaths. The virus has killed at least 4,202 people in our state.
APP reports: The Jersey Shore (Monmouth and Ocean) saw 10 more deaths from COVID-19 and the total number of positive cases increase by 241, according to a Sunday update from the state Department of Health.
Monmouth County now has 4,669 cases of positive tests and 221 deaths. Ocean County has 4,648 positive COVID-19 cases and 212 deaths.
The numbers bring the total positive cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, at the Shore to 9,317 as of April 19. The death toll now sits at 241 persons.
Neptune Township has 243 positive cases; no breakdown for OG.
Kevin says, “Take care of yourself but please leave others to live their lives as they please, and keep your fears to yourselves.”
But we are all in this together. Whatever crowds showed up yesterday contained an unknown number of infected people, some of whom are free of symptoms* so far and are capable of giving the disease to others. This virus is highly contagious—-three times so compared to influenza.
And if some on the boards were Grovers, they walked home while other visitors may have wandered onto our streets to enjoy our Victorian town.
So those freedom lovers who want to “live their lives as they please” are not isolated while enjoying their freedoms; some of them pose a risk to everyone else.
By not controlling the influx yesterday, our town leaders failed in their responsibility to protect the citizens. If the boards had been closed yesterday, the risk of spreading disease in our town would have been less.
Isn’t this “distancing” exercise all about reducing risk?
* Kevin Pham, MD (Heritage Foundation): “Recent evidence suggests that a potentially large proportion of infected people never show symptoms.
“Universal COVID-19 screening on hospital labor and delivery wards in New York City found that, of the women who tested positive for the virus, 29 out of 33 were asymptomatic at diagnosis. Of those 29 women, 26 of them remained asymptomatic, while only three developed fevers.
“For each woman who tested positive for COVID-19 and showed symptoms, there were more than seven other women who tested positive, but did not show symptoms. “
Ralph was not stolen. He’s in for repair.
Yes. It was a disgrace here today. Parking lot on Broadway packed.
Cars zooming south to north on Penna Ave, and our Ralph was stolen sometime after Wednesday April 15.
Read the Constitution of the United States of America and The Bill of Rights
🇺🇸
And you will be able to answer your own questions.
Remember people, it is your legal right to stay home and protect yourself from the virus. No one is forcing anyone to go to the beach or boardwalk.
It is not your right to force others to behave and act on your fears. Take care of yourself but please leave others to live their lives as they please and keep your fears to yourselves.
Remember, this is still America and we all have the right to our civil rights.
Kevin Chambers.
Why isn’t the CMA closing the OG boardwalk? Is there a good reason? Let’s hear it.
And why isn’t Neptune Township insisting on closing the boardwalk? Are they afraid to ruffle the feathers at the CMA?
Does the CMA consider the boardwalk to be private property such that they have no responsibility for the public welfare? After all, when they wanted Federal money after Sandy, they said that the boardwalk was a public thoroughfare. They can’t have it both ways.
Once again the CMA and the Neptuner crowd have shown no interest in what is best for the OG public.