Gov. Phil Murphy has already said New Jerseyans should expect to be dealing with the coronavirus past April. But his latest forecast is that the fallout will drag “deep into May.”

The governor told CNN’s Chris Cuomo in an interview Wednesday night the Garden State is about to “get up at a very high level” of positive cases and people needing hospitalization, and that “we’re going to stay there” for some time.

“I think, Chris, I’ve said this, deep into May. I don’t see any other way around that,” Murphy responded when Cuomo asked him “How long do you think we’re looking at? How long do you think we’re having this conversation? Two, five, eight weeks?”

Murphy had previously said the pandemic will probably “bleed meaningfully into May,” at least.

Earlier in the day, the governor announced New Jersey now has at least 22,255 cases of the coronavirus, including 355 deaths, as 3,649 new positive tests and 91 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Those were the highest single-day increases in both cases and deaths since the outbreak began.

Health officials also announced seven hospitals in the northern part of the state notified the first responders they reached “divert” status Tuesday, meaning either the whole hospital or a unit couldn’t accept new patients temporarily.

“We’ve got hospitals in the north, particularly in Bergen County, that are starting to divert, meaning you’ve got to go to plan B, that’s already happening,” Murphy said on CNN. “If people are looking for one message and you’re watching from Jersey it’s simple: Stay home until further notice.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says he anticipates coronavirus the conversation on social distancing to continue be into the month of May. https://t.co/V5NLJL8ost pic.twitter.com/5laWzRvbVi — Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) April 2, 2020

Murphy has placed New Jersey into near-lockdown to help slow the spread of the virus and protect hospital capacity, ordering residents to stay at home, banning social gatherings, and mandating non-essential retail businesses to close.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

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