Maplewood's 25th Coronavirus Death Is Doctor Molokwu, 59

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Maplewood Mayor Frank McGehee said in his nightly coronavirus update on Saturday that the town had lost its 25th member to coronavirus, Dr. Godwin Molokwu, 59. Molokwu was a gastroenterologist affiliated with RWJBarnabas Health, and had also run for the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education in 2014.

"Please keep the Molokwu family and all 24 other families who have lost loved ones due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) in your prayers," McGehee wrote.

An on-line memorial site said his funeral and burial will be in Nigeria.

Officials also announced this weekend that residents can get tested for coronavirus for free at the Essex County Mobile Test site, coming to Maplewood this Thursday. For the time and enrollment details, see www.essexcovid.org website. The site will be limited to 225 appointments and located at the community pool parking lot.

Testing will also continue at Weequahic Park in Newark for all Essex county residents, McGehee said. Test times are from 9 a.m. to noon and residents must arrive by car. You can also register at www.essexcovid.org.

McGehee said that 295 Maplewood residents have tested positive for coronavirus, including 16 new cases between May 22 and last Friday. The age range of the new cases was 17 to 90. Of those cases, 195 have recovered. For local questions, call Maplewood's Public Health Division at (973) 762-8120.

Here are some other local coronavirus updates:

PARKS

Individuals within the Township of Maplewood's parks are required to have face coverings and practice social distancing. A Declaration of Local Emergency was issued May 22.

RECREATION

The local pool and camps may open in July, with modifications. Read more here.

RENT

A Short-Term Rental Assistance Program to serve very low income and homeless or at risk of homelessness with up to 12 months of rental assistance will launch on June 15. Households will be selected by the DCA through the Coordinated Entry process in each county’s Homeless Management Information System. Additional funding will be administered by an online lottery. Visit https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dhcr/offices/shorttermrap.html.

JOBS

The state is looking for full-time contact tracers who can work between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., but not more than 35 hours per week. To learn more about contact tracing, you can complete this free training and register at https://covid19.nj.gov/forms/tracer.

FOOD FOR THE NEEDY AND SENIORS

• The next Essex County Emergency Food Distribution Event will be June 4 at Essex County Codey Arena at 10 a.m. at 560 Northfield Ave. in West Orange. 1,000 boxes of food will be distributed.
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants are now able to use their benefits to order groceries online. Online shopping is available through Amazon and participating Walmarts, ShopRites, and The Fresh Grocers. Visit njhelps.org to learn more and apply for food assistance and other benefits.
• To read about other programs for the needy and for local seniors, click here.

LONG-TERM CARE

• New Jersey residents have become alarmed at the high number of residents who have passed away in nursing homes, rehabs, and similar facilities, and have charged that the facilities are undercounting the numbers and not adequately protecting residents and staff. The state has faced questions for weeks from the press about how they will address the problems.
• There is now a state website with numbers for people at individual nursing homes.
• You can report immediate issues with long term care facilities here, or if you suspect coronavirus related misconduct that should be reported to the Attorney General, here.

STATE NUMBERS

• In New Jersey, the number of cases has risen to 160,918, and 11,721 people have died. Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday that the totals included 509 new coronavirus cases and 27 more deaths in the last 24 hours.
• Murphy has said that reopenings will occur carefully, in stages, to try to avoid a new spike in coronavirus cases. At the height of the spread of the virus, the state reported 460 new deaths from the virus in 24 hours at the end of April, or a death every three minutes.

Here are statewide coronavirus resources:

• NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/
• General COVID-19 questions: 2-1-1
• NJ COVID-19 hotline: (800) 222-1222

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