As a New Jersey state legislator committed to stopping the spread of COVID-19 in my district, I pledge to publicly stand with nursing home workers and will take all necessary steps to ensure their safety and that of their patients during this pandemic. I join with 1199SEIU nursing home workers in calling for:

• All facilities to strictly abide by recent executive orders requiring:

     -- Universal masking of all staff, and masking of symptomatic residents when they are being cared for.

     --Isolating sick residents to separate wings and floors, and transferring residents to other facilities when this is not feasible.

     --Daily, in-person and written notification from employees to all employees about the COVID-19 status within their facility.

• Adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for all frontline and support staff, allocated according to need.

• Prioritized, fast-track COVID-19 testing for every symptomatic healthcare worker.

• Public disclosure of the names of every nursing facility with COVID-19 cases, including how many residents and staff have tested positive, and the number of deaths.

• That a full record be kept of every nursing home patient death during this pandemic, whether they were tested for COVID-19 or not.

• Public hearings when the pandemic is over to determine whether nursing homes have acted within established medical, legal, and ethical guidelines to protect patients and workers.

Thank you to the New Jersey legislators who have signed the pledge!

Sen. Dawn Addiego
Asm. Daniel Benson
Sen. Anthony 'Tony' Bucco
Asm. Ralph Caputo
Sen. Joe Cryan
Asm. Joe Danielsen
Asm. Wayne DeAngelo
Sen. Patrick Diegnan
Asw. Joann Downey
Asm. Joseph Egan
Asm. Roy Freiman
Asm. Thomas Giblin
Sen. Vin Gopal
Asm. Eric Houghtaling
Asw. Angelica Jimenez
Asm. Gordon Johnson
Asm. Robert Karabinchak
Asw. Yvonne Lopez
Asm. Raj Mukherji
Asw. Carol Murphy
Asw. Nancy Pinkin
Sen. Theresa Ruiz
Sen. Samuel Thompson
Sen. Shirley Turner
Asw. Valerie Vainieri Huttle
Sen. Joseph Vitale
Sen. Loretta Weinberg
Sen. Brain P. Stack
Sen. Joseph Vitale
Sen. Nicholas Scutari
Asm. Andrew Zwicker
Asw. Shavonda E. Sumter
Asw. Annette Quijano
Sen. Nellie Pou
Sen. Bob Smith
Asw. Mila Jasey
Asm. Vince Mazzeo
Asm. John Armato
Sen. Richard J. Codey
Asm. William W. Spearman
Asm. William F. Moen, Jr.
Sen. Nilsa I. Cruz Perez
Asw. Shanique Speight
Sen. Steve Sweeney
Asm. Paul Moriarty
Asw. Britnee Timberlake
Sen. Fred Madden