NJ governor quarantining after family member tests positive for COVID-19

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) will quarantine and cancel in-person events after a family member tested positive for COVID-19, his office said Wednesday. 

Mahen Gunaratna, Murphy’s communications director, said contact tracing has already begun to notify anyone who came into contact with Murphy’s family. The governor and his wife have four children, though it was not immediately clear which of them tested positive. 

Murphy was tested for the coronavirus earlier Wednesday as part of a scheduled regime and received a negative result.

“After careful review, the Governor does not qualify as an exposed close contact,” Gunaratna said in a statement. “However, out of an abundance of caution and in line with the highest levels of commitment to protecting public health, the governor will be canceling in-person events and voluntarily quarantining before resuming any in-person engagements.” 

A member of the Governor’s family recently tested positive for COVID-19. Out of an abundance of caution, the Governor will be canceling in-person events and voluntarily quarantining before resuming any in-person engagements.

Full statement –> pic.twitter.com/uE17QbKWSd

— Mahen Gunaratna (@GunaRockYa) February 10, 2021

The quarantine is Murphy’s second of the pandemic. He stayed in his home in October after coming into contact with a senior staffer who had tested positive for the coronavirus. The governor himself has never tested positive. 

Murphy had been set to host a coronavirus briefing early Wednesday afternoon, though his office said the event would be postponed and held virtually.