New Jersey’s governor abruptly ended a news conference Wednesday when he discovered a staffer he’d been in close proximity to had just tested positive for COVID-19.
About 23 minutes into the conference, held outside at Camden County Community College’s main campus in Blackwood, Gov. Phil Murphy went to the podium and announced a change in the order of speakers, a livestream of the event shows.
“Now why am I saying this? I was just informed by my colleagues that I was in close proximity to someone on Saturday who has just tested positive,” said Murphy, with a blue surgical mask on his face.
“I will now unfortunately have to take myself off the field. I can’t ask President Trump not to come to Bedminster and do a fundraiser and have me sit here,” the gov continued, alluding to remarks he made about Trump’s decision to come to the state after he learned he’d been exposed to the virus by his close aide Hope Hicks.
Murphy said he has “no symptoms” and had tested negative for the bug on Monday, but it was unrelated to the contact he had over the weekend because he “had no idea” about it “until just five minutes ago.”
The governor and his wife were tested again Wednesday afternoon and both tests came back negative, the Garden State governor’s communications director Mahen Gunaratna said, according to USA Today.
The COVID-positive staffer was later identified as Mike Delamater, his deputy chief of staff for intergovernmental affairs, according to NJ.com. Another aide, Daniel Bryan, has also tested positive. Bryan was the one who informed Murphy of Delamater’s diagnosis at the event earlier in the day, the outlet reported.
Murphy had kidney surgery in March, which could put him at a higher risk for a more serious case of the virus, so he and his wife are taking “exceedingly cautious” steps moving forward, Gunaratna said.
The pair will cancel all in-person events through next week and will both take additional tests before venturing out in public again.
Wednesday’s event, which announced $14 million in funding to support workforce development programs, began just after noon when Murphy arrived.
He was spotted mingling closely with attendees before he spoke, but everyone, including the governor, was wearing a mask, NJ.com reported.
