New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission Phased Reopening to Begin June 15

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) facilities closed since March due to the COVID-19 crisis will begin a phased reopening June 15.

State officials said the reopening was designed to safeguard public health and safety, while bringing changes to improve efficiencies to commission operations.

“With the phased reopening of the Motor Vehicle Commission, we’re passing another important milestone on the Road Back,’’ said Gov. Phil Murphy. “The MVC is implementing smart, innovative plans to safely deliver motor vehicle services to New Jerseyans.’’

Center Designations

In order to limit crowds and speed services during the phased reopening, agencies have been designated into two centers—Licensing and Vehicles. 

Drop-off and pick-up transactions will be processed starting June 15 with designated licensing centers processing and validating permits from driving schools and high schools on a drop-off basis. 

At designated Vehicle Centers, the agency will process registration and title work from dealers. License plates can be surrendered by drop-off at these agencies in a designated area.

MVC will now process registration/title transfers for private sales by a new online and mail-in combination procedure. 

Road Test Starts June 29

As for road tests and the issuing of new licenses and permits, a tentative start of June 29 was announced. Additional transactions like out-of-state transfers and private sales registrations will be offered, but still on a limited basis to prevent crowding. 

Over the next two months, MVC will triple road-testing capacity with the addition of 11 courses and the reassignment of over 100 employees to serve as road test examiners. This will enable the agency to increase road tests to 16,300 as week from its usual 5,800 road tests, which MVC expects will clear its backlog by the end of the 60 days.

At designated Licensing Centers starting June 29, MVC will process new licenses and permits, out-of-state transfers, and REAL ID for those whose appointments were canceled.

At designated Vehicle Centers starting June 29, MVC will be adding individual registration and title transactions.

Transactions that can be done online— licence and registrations renewal or replacement as well as change of address—will not be available in person at this time.

Workplace Overhaul

While shuttered, MVC workspaces were overhauled to add Plexiglas barriers and other social distancing measures. MVC employees are returning to the agencies the week of June 8, for health and safety briefings, hardware and software reboots, and training on new protocols.

Going forward, customers and employees entering the MVC agency will be required to wear a face covering. If a customer cannot wear a face covering, MVC will make other arrangements for their transaction.

“The old MVC crowded a lot of people into a lot of small spaces. We can’t operate like that in a COVID-19 world,” said NJMVC Chief Administrator Sue Fulton. “Our reopening plan re-imagines MVC workflows, with streamlined processes to clear the backlog and ensure that you spend as little time as possible at MVC.”

Daily Data

As of June 5, the cumulative number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey reached 163,336 with 864 new cases and 79 new deaths, bringing that total to 12,049. 

Of the total deaths in North Jersey, Essex County has the most with 1,702, followed by Bergen at 1,611, Hudson with 1,205, Passaic at 957, Morris at 625, Sussex at 149 and Warren with 132. 

State Testing 

The daily rate of infections from those tested June 1 rested at 3.9%. The state is no longer using serology tests as health officials explained those results show a past presence of the disease as well as a current one. By region, the north tested at 3.6%, the central 3.6% and the south 2.3% on approximately 22,000 tests.

Officials reported 1,933 patients are hospitalized with coronavirus—which included 192 new hospitalizations—while 204 patients were discharged. The north tier had 841 patients hospitalized, the central 595 and the south 487.

The daily discharge and new hospitalizations by tier for June 5 was the north charting 30 hospitalizations and 84 discharges, the central having 91 hospitalizations and 66 discharges, and the south reporting 71 hospitalizations and 54 discharges.   

Of those hospitalized, 542 are in intensive care units and 410 on ventilators. There are currently 16 patients in field hospitals, with 476 treated overall. 

Hudson Tops County Count

Hudson has the most cumulative cases in the state with 18,518, followed by Bergen at 18,463, Essex at 18,019, Passaic at 16,387, Middlesex at 16,137, Union at 16,038, Ocean at 8,954, Monmouth at 8,428, Mercer at 7,120, Camden at 6,732, Morris at 6,572, Burlington at 4,746, Somerset at 4,651, Cumberland at 2,531, Gloucester at 2,310, Atlantic at 2,309, Warren at 1,189, Sussex at 1,130, Hunterdon at 1,015, Salem at 665 and Cape May at 637.

Another 785 cases are still under investigation to determine where the person resides.

Demographic Breakdown

The racial breakdown of the record deaths was 53% White, 19% Black, 20% Hispanic, 5% Asian and 3% another race. Murphy has noted the rates in the black and Hispanic communities are running about 50% more than their population in the state. 

In regards to the underlying disease of those who have passed, 59% had cardiovascular disease, 43% diabetes, 32% other chronic diseases, 17% neurological conditions, 15% chronic renal disease, 10% cancer and 14% other. Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli has stated most cases have multiple underlying conditions which would push the percentage of 100%.

A census of ages for 9,941 confirmed deaths shows 47% of deaths are of those 80 year old and up, 33% in the range of 65-80, 16% between 50-65 and 4% under the age of 49. 

State officials are tracking cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children who in turn  test positive for COVID-19. Two news cases were reported June 5, increasing the total cases to 37 for children ranging in age from 1-18. All have tested positive for COVID-19 or have antibodies in their blood. Seven are currently hospitalized. No deaths have been reported from the disease. 

Persichilli previously remarked “black children account for a disproportionately high number” on a national scale. While only a small sample, the reported racial breakdown in New Jersey was 22% White, 31% Black, 40% Hispanic, 6% Asian and 3% other.

Long-term Care Facilities

Health officials noted 547 long-term care facilities are reporting at least one case of COVID-19 and accounted for 34,094 of the cases, broken down between 22,811 residents and 11,283 staff. The state’s official death total will now be reported as those that are lab confirmed, which was 5,182 on June 5. The facilities are reporting to the state 6,091 residents deaths and 109 staff deaths. 

In a by-county breakdown:  

Bergen County

• 63  Facilities with Outbreaks
• 3194 Total Resident Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 1638 Total Staff Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 915  Resident Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities
• 11  Staff Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities

Essex County

• 46  Facilities with Outbreaks
• 2126 Total Resident Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 995 Total Staff Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 556  Resident Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities
• 19  Staff Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities

Morris County 

• 42  Facilities with Outbreaks
• 1385 Total Resident Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 671 Total Staff Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 456  Resident Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities
• 3  Staff Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities

Passaic County 

• 25  Facilities with Outbreaks
• 1170 Total Resident Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 685 Total Staff Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 360  Resident Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities
• 13  Staff Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities

Hudson County 

• 15  Facilities with Outbreaks
• 973 Total Resident Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 517 Total Staff Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 232  Resident Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities
• 7  Staff Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities

Sussex County

• 7  Facilities with Outbreaks
• 250 Total Resident Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 134 Total Staff Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 107  Resident Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities
• 4  Staff Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities

Warren County 

• 7  Facilities with Outbreaks
• 405 Total Resident Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 131 Total Staff Cases at Long Term Care Facilities 
• 111  Resident Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities
• 1  Staff Deaths reported by Long Term Care Facilities