NEW JERSEY, April 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The governor of New Jersey asked citizens to practice “social distancing” — staying away from other people — even while they are at home with their families in order to further combat the coronavirus pandemic.
“If you do not need to be out, then we need you to stay at home,” declared Gov. Phil Murphy during a recent press conference. “Please, God, stay at home.”
“And even when you are at home, keep your distance between yourself and other family members,” added Murphy.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines “social distancing” as always maintaining “a distance of at least 6 feet (2 meters) from others.”
Murphy announced during the press conference that New Jersey has now had 25,590 total cases and 537 total deaths attributable to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., White House response coordinator for the coronavirus task force Dr. Deborah Birx seemed to contradict the N.J. governor, stating in a press conference that social distancing does not apply to large families.
“To everybody out there across the country, when we say no gatherings of ten, we wanted to be clear that if you have a family of ten, we don’t want you to be split up,” said Birx, speaking at the White House on the same day as Governor Murphy.
“We’re only as strong as every community, every county, every state, every American following the guidelines to a T,” said Birx.
She explained that charts displaying statistical information about coronavirus infection rates make it clear that “not every American” is following the guidelines.
“This is really a call to action,” she continued. “We see Spain, we see Italy, we see France, we see Germany. When we see others beginning to bend their curves, we can bend ours, but it means that everybody has to take that same responsibility as Americans.”