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6th
Jul 2021

Senior Communities File Suit Against Governor, Dept. of Health Over Covid Restrictions

 
By Eric San Juan
 
Berkeley’s senior communities are ready to open up their clubhouses and pools again – and as of May 4, they’ve filed suit against Governor Phil Murphy and the state Department of Health to make it happen. The case was set to be heard just as this story is going to print.
 
The fight to return to some semblance of normalcy had already begun, with a coalition of 10 senior communities in Berkeley, as well as the township council, supporting a bill that would protect age-restricted communities from liability if a resident were to get a sick as a result of social interaction at their community clubhouse, pool, or other facilities.
“There’s a big push from our senior communities to get them open,” Mayor Carmen Amato said. “A lot of the residents want to start going back to their clubhouses for their recreation events, they want their pools open.”
 
At issue has been the risk of liability. Councilman Mike Signorile, also President of the Holiday City South homeowner’s association, said Berkeley’s senior communities have struggled with the issue since the pandemic began shutting things down last year.
 
“We have virtually no indemnity should something happen. Should someone catch the virus, they could sue us,” Signorile said. “Not only is the association liable, but the officers of the association are personally.”
 
The complaint against the state cites restrictions placed on senior communities that are not consistent with current Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, such as state executive orders mandating that all furniture be wiped down despite CDC guidance suggesting there is little risk of Covid-19 transmission from surface contact. Many of the restrictions put a large cost and labor burden on senior communities, representatives said.
 
Many of these executive orders were passed last spring, early in the pandemic, before there was a lot of data on transmission and best practices for prevention.
Now, with vaccination numbers increasing and Covid numbers slowing, community leaders such as Signorile say it’s time to begin allowing some common sense ways to open without exposing the community to liability – and if filing suit against the state is the way to make that happen, so be it.
 
As this story goes to press, NJ Senate bill S3584 and Assembly bill A4979 are in front of the state legislature but have yet to receive a vote. These bills would provide immunity to planned communities, including senior communities, from legal action stemming from a Covid outbreak at their site.
 
In the meantime, the Coalition’s lawsuit is set to be heard on June 7.
 
“This has become a real thorn in our sides,” Signorile said. “Hopefully these two bills will go through and the governor will sign them. We’re pushing to get this done so we can open our facilities and get our seniors back to their normal activity.”
 
Some 8 out of 10 Covid-19 deaths in the United States have been of people aged 65 or older. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Older adults are at greater risk of requiring hospitalization or dying if they are diagnosed with COVID-19. As you get older, your risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19 increases.”
 
Being vaccinated can greatly minimize the risk of contracting Covid, both by helping prevent infection and by minimizing the impact of Covid if a victim is infected.
 
Now, almost three-quarters of New Jersey residents over the age of 65 have been vaccinated, and availability for those who want the vaccine is widespread and easy.
 
So with more and more residents being vaccinated, the warmer months here, and many simply eager to get out of the house, community leadership is looking for ways to do it safely and without putting communities in legal jeopardy.
 
Ocean County has set up a hotline for questions about Covid-19.
The number is 833-544-0288 or 732-380-5079