The two South Brunswick residents who attended a private party in Princeton on Feb. 29 tested positive for the coronavirus, South Brunswick officials confirmed on Saturday evening. The total number of Princeton party attendees who have been confirmed to have tested positive so far is eight or more people.
The breakdown so far:
– Two people from the Boston area who had attended the Biogen conference in Boston then attended the Princeton party. More than 70 people who attended that conference tested positive for the coronavirus. The two tested positive after they returned from Princeton to New England.
-Three people from Pennsylvania who attended the party also tested positive.
-Two Princeton University staff members who attended the party tested positive. Asked which town the staff member is from, municipal and university officials have not identified the municipality the second resident lives in, and thus we do not know if the staffer is one of the South Brunswick positives or a different case).
-Two South Brunswick residents tested positive. One is a student at the high school there and was a server at the party.
Princeton officials have not provided an update yet this weekend about test results that were pending on Friday. Forty-seven people attended the Princeton party. Fourteen people are Princeton residents. Nine of the attendees had symptoms when they were screened by health officials, and seven have been tested for the coronavirus.
State officials explained at a media briefing Saturday afternoon that the only people in the state who are being tested currently are people who were exposed in a cluster such as the Princeton party, people who work in healthcare, and people who have been hospitalized as a result of complications from the virus.
Many people will have no or moderate flu symptoms. The elderly and people with compromised immune systems and certain health issues such as diabetes or heart disease are more likely to develop complications
“If you don’t have symptoms, you don’t need to be tested,” New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Saturday. “If symptoms are mild, follow the guidance of your healthcare provider…If you don’t have symptoms, it’s important to know you may test positive later. If you have symptoms, you may test negative, or have another respiratory infection unrelated to COVID-19. Stay home when you are sick.”
Officials said they are working with other organizations to have COVID-19 tests more widely available in the coming weeks.
Would you be able to find out places in town frequented by any of the people at the party?
No. Sorry, we don’t have that information. We should all assume the virus is among us in our communities, and stay home if possible or socially distance ourselves from others to protect both ourselves and others in our communities. Also, these two residents have been quarantined since March 9. That is 10 days after the party. So they were probably many places. But that was also almost a week ago and the virus would not be active on surfaces, etc. now where they had been.