Belleville has had its first fatality linked to the coronavirus.
Mayor Michael Melham extended his deepest sympathies and condolences to the family, whose identity is not being released at this time, and whose relative died last night, Monday, March 23.
There are now 16 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Belleville, with test results pending for four other residents.
For all confirmed cases, the Belleville Health Department performs “Contact Tracing Interviews,” and is in touch with anyone who may have interacted with an individual testing positive for coronavirus. All participating in these interviews are asked to be self-quarantined.
“I am sharing all we are allowed to share,” the mayor said. “To that end, I’m urging all residents to go beyond the governor’s executive order and shelter in place and avoid social gatherings. The faster we all shelter in place, the faster all of this will be over. If you are ‘out and about,’ you are not only putting yourself and your family at risk, but our highly valued first responders.”
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.