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Law360 (February 10, 2021, 5:05 PM EST ) New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will be quarantining after a member of his family recently tested positive for the novel coronavirus, but a test on the governor himself came back negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday, a Murphy representative said.
In the latest episode of the virus reaching the upper levels of the state government, the governor will quarantine even though he is not considered "an exposed close contact" of the unidentified family member, Murphy spokesman Mahen Gunaratna said. His negative result came Wednesday as part of his regular testing, Gunaratna said.
A process is underway "to notify everyone who may have come into contact with the governor's family member during the potential infection window," according to Gunaratna.
"After careful review, the governor does not qualify as an exposed close contact," Gunaratna said. "However, out of an abundance of caution and in line with the highest levels of commitment to protecting public health, the governor will be canceling in-person events and voluntarily quarantining before resuming any in-person engagements."
"From the beginning, the governor has taken every precaution to limit the spread of COVID-19," Gunaratna added. "Today's exceedingly cautious steps are part of that ongoing commitment."
As of Wednesday, there were 650,263 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey, with 19,916 confirmed deaths and 2,187 probable deaths, state officials said.
The governor's latest quarantine comes more than three months after Murphy representatives on Oct. 21 said the governor would be quarantining as two members of his senior staff tested positive for COVID-19.
Those staffers were identified as Mike Delamater, deputy chief of staff for intergovernmental affairs, and Daniel Bryan, senior adviser to the governor for strategic communications. At that time, Gunaratna said Murphy tested negative for the virus.
Three weeks later, a representative of state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said he would be quarantining after testing positive in one of two tests he took following his exposure at work to a staff member who also tested positive for COVID-19.
Grewal, who was asymptomatic, was positive via a rapid COVID-19 test, but a follow-up polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test came back negative, communications director Steven Barnes said.
Another state department head, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, also has quarantined at least twice in recent months after instances in which an employee working in her office tested positive for COVID-19, according to statements from the health department's communications director Donna Leusner.
Earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor's office said in April that Murphy's then-chief counsel Matt Platkin tested positive for the virus. Platkin stepped down in October to become a Lowenstein Sandler LLP partner. He was replaced by deputy chief counsel Parimal Garg.
--Editing by Stephen Berg.
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