Dear Governor Murphy, It’s Time to Open South Jersey

An open letter to the Honorable Phil Murphy.

Dear Governor,

It's time. Time to open South Jersey.

That's a big leap for me. I've been a big believer in taking it slow and cautious.

We in South Jersey have been doing that from day one. It's time to move forward.

When I say "South Jersey", in this case, I'm talking specifically about Atlantic, Cape May, and Cumberland Counties.

Here's what I have to back up my argument: The numbers. The facts. We here in South Jersey have not in any way close been hit as hard as the northern part of our great state.

While our northern neighbors have had it very rough, we have not seen the spikes down here. Our citizens, for the most part, have been following all the guidelines and best practices. We've worn masks and practiced social distancing from the beginning.

Again, we are not like our neighbors to the north. New Jersey is not equal in it's hit by this terrible virus, and we shouldn't be treated the same. It does nothing for us to wait for the North Jersey to get numbers like we've been seeing since the beginning.

Let's look at our numbers:

Atlantic County - Estimated Population: 263,670  (United States Census). Total people that have tested positive for COVID-19: 2,120 (New Jersey Health Department). That's less than 1% of the population.

Cape May County - Estimated Population: 92,039. Tested positive: 602. Again, less than 1%.

Cumberland County - Estimated Population: 149, 527. Tested positive: 2,146.  About 1.4%

If there's one thing that we've seen, our population has and will continue to follow the recommendations and precautions.

The unfairness of which businesses have been allowed to operate and which have not can be argued another time. Now, let's open them all up. Let's do it. People are smart enough to continue to follow the recommendations. Our businesses have had the necessary input and know what they need to do to try to keep everyone safe.

Please stop forgetting about us, and lumping us in with the rest of the state. Let's us be your model. Let us be your testing ground.

We are South Jersey!

We're ready, My. Governor, we're ready!

It's now time to open up and get South Jersey Working, Playing, and LIVING again!