MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said on Sunday that Maplewood is among 11 towns in the county with a positive coronavirus case, as he spoke at a press conference in Newark.

Also on Sunday, Maplewood Mayor Frank McGehee shared a message in conjunction with the town's Health Division.

"At this time, there is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19 and no medications approved to treat the virus," states the post. "As a result, efforts to control transmission and mitigate risk are critically important." Thus, the city, like others, is stressing social distancing, or staying away from crowds.

The post also says what to do if you think you are sick with the virus. New Jersey announced Saturday that it had 69 confirmed cases of the virus and two deaths, but the number rose higher on Sunday with counties and towns like Hoboken reporting more.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.



Eric Kiefer contributed to this story.