New Jersey Administrative Code › Title - EXECUTIVE ORDERS › Title 55 - CHRIS CHRISTIE › Section - Executive Order No. 141 (2020)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
Governor Philip D. Murphy
Executive Order No. 141 (2020)
An Order Mandating that All Local, County, and Regional Health Departments Use the CommCare Platform to Support Their Contact Tracing Efforts
Issued: May 12, 2020.
Effective: May 12, 2020.
WHEREAS, in light of the dangers posed by Coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19"), I issued Executive Order No. 103 (2020) on March 9, 2020, the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, which declared both a Public Health Emergency and State of Emergency; and
WHEREAS, the Public Health Emergency declared in Executive Order No. 103 (2020) has been twice extended, through Executive Order No. 119 (2020), which I signed on April 7, 2020, and through Executive Order No. 138 (2020), which I signed on May 6, 2020, and continues to exist today; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with N.J.S.A. App. A:9-34 and -51, I reserve the right to utilize and employ all available resources of State government to protect against the emergency created by COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, as COVID-19 continued to spread across New Jersey and an increasing number of individuals required medical care or hospitalization, I issued a series of Executive Orders pursuant to my authority under the New Jersey Civilian Defense and Disaster Control Act and the Emergency Health Powers Act, to protect the public health, safety, and welfare against the emergency created by COVID-19, including Executive Order Nos. 104-133, Executive Order Nos. 135-138, and Executive Order No. 140 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are all adopted by reference herein; and
WHEREAS, the Commissioner of Health ("Commissioner") is authorized by N.J.S.A. 26:13-12 to take all reasonable and necessary measures to prevent the transmission of infectious disease; and
WHEREAS, during a declaration of a Public Health Emergency, the Department of Health is responsible for overseeing the uniform prevention of the spread of disease in accordance with N.J.S.A. 26:4-2; and
WHEREAS, the Commissioner has the authority to coordinate the activities of all local health agencies with regard to public health protection related to preparing for and responding to public health emergencies, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 26:13-21; and
WHEREAS, contact tracing is a critical disease control measure that has been employed by local, county, regional and State health department personnel for decades; and
WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") has emphasized that contact tracing is a key strategy, together with testing, social distancing, quarantining, and treatment, for preventing further spread of COVID-19 and reopening the economy; and
WHEREAS, effective contact tracing requires engaging individuals with specialized training and access to social and medical support for patients and contacts; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey must scale up and train a case investigation and contact tracer workforce to stop the continued transmission of COVID-19, which will in turn require significant coordination between the State and local health departments; and
WHEREAS, county, regional, and local health departments play a critical role in performing case investigation and contact tracing functions; and
WHEREAS, as per the CDC, case investigation, contact tracing, and contact follow-up and monitoring must
be linked with testing, clinical services, and timely, comprehensive and accurate reporting of data to facilitate immediate electronic transmission of laboratory and case data for public health action; and
WHEREAS, in scaling a statewide, data-driven contact tracing initiative to meet critical need, use of a single centralized contact tracing platform to track patients and their contacts will ensure that the State's overall effort is operationally efficient; and
WHEREAS, robust and consistent contact tracing state-wide is critical to both New Jersey's current COVID-19 response and to long-term efforts to combat the virus and re-open the economy; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution and statutes of the State of New Jersey, particularly the provisions of N.J.S.A. 26:13-1et seq. and N.J.S.A. App. A:9-33 et seq., and all amendments and supplements thereto, confer upon the Governor of the State of New Jersey certain emergency powers, which I have invoked;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
1. The Commissioner shall take all necessary and appropriate actions within her authority to ensure an effective statewide contact tracing system, including to establish a secure centralized contact tracing platform within the State, to issue operating procedures for tracking and recording cases using the centralized platform, to identify or establish a training curriculum on system operations and contract tracing procedures, and to address staffing needs.
2. In exercising her authority to establish an effective statewide contact tracing system, the Commissioner shall consider how best to ensure that the secure centralized contact tracing platform connects to the existing Communicable Disease Reporting and Surveillance System operated by the Department of Health.
3. In exercising her authority to establish an effective statewide contact tracing system, the Commissioner shall consider how best to ensure that the operating procedures for tracking and recording cases using the centralized platform include, at minimum, standards for maintaining privacy and safe handling of personally identifiable information by contact tracers, and for review of positive cases within specified time frames.
4. In exercising her authority to establish an effective statewide contact tracing system, the Commissioner shall consider how best to ensure that the training curriculum on system operations and contact tracing procedures include, at minimum, training regarding:
a. Technology operations;
b. Security and privacy issues;
c. Case/contact investigations; and
d. Social assistance supports.