The City of Union City has now confirmed 34 cases of the coronavirus, about 36 hours after their board of commissioners approved a moratorium on rent increases, retroactive to March 1st.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The city has been announcing daily coronavirus tallies on their Twitter page since Monday.
No further information about their cases have been available at this time, though little can be disclosed under state HIPAA laws besides the patients’ gender and age.
Meanwhile, the board of commissioners still went to work last night, passing the measure to halt rent hikes unanimously (5-0) during the state of emergency, with the local legislation to expire within two months after the public heath crisis is under control.
“Residents are facing enough hardships with this virus,†state Senator (D-33)/Union City Mayor Brian Stack said in a statement.
“We do not need to add insult to injury by increasing their rent and creating more of a hardship for them to overcome. Housing security and stability are critical to the public health and this ordinance is in the interest of the public health, safety and welfare of Union City residents.”
There are now 319 disclosed cases of the coronavirus in Hudson County: 130 in Jersey City, 40 in Hoboken, 34 in North Bergen, 23 in West New York, 27 in Bayonne, 17 in Weehawken, six in Kearny, seven in Secaucus, and one in Guttenberg.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with new information.
