Citing the increasing number of positive cases of COVID-19, Princeton officials are holding off on restarting in-person municipal meetings.
The Princeton Council was set to resume in-person meetings on Sept. 13, but on the advice of Princeton Health Officer Jeffrey Grosser, the council will continue to meet virtually.
“With the emergence in the highly contagious delta variant and increase in COVID-19 cases throughout New Jersey and within Princeton, I am recommending we delay the start of in-person meetings until further notice,” Grosser wrote to the Princeton Council on Aug. 18.
“The Princeton Health Department and the Princeton Board of Health will continue to monitor this evolving situation and revisit the return to in-person meetings when COVID-19 activity has decreased to levels deemed safe,” Grosser wrote.
Gov. Phil Murphy issued a public health emergency declaration last year, which meant that all meetings – from the Princeton Council to the planning and zoning board meetings and the advisory boards and committees – would be held virtually.
Princeton Administrator Bernard Hvozdovic told the Princeton Council at its Aug. 25 meeting that the administration began to think about returning to in-person meetings after Murphy lifted the public health emergency July 4.
“The numbers (of reported positive cases of COVID-19) were really good at that time,” but it was understood that it was a fluid situation, Hvozdovic said. The number of positive cases has increased, so the decision has been made to delay in-person meetings.
A total of 775 positive cases of COVID-19 in Princeton have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. This includes 31 positive cases reported in the past 14 days, according to the Princeton Health Department.