The Top-10 most read, watched Jersey Shore Covid stories of 2020: #9

We are continuing our simultaneous countdowns of the Top-10 Most Read Jersey Shore Covid News Stories and Most Watched Jersey Shore Covid News Videos of 2020.

Here is the 9th most read Covid article followed by the 9th most watched Covid video on our social media platforms of Facebook and YouTube across 92.7 WOBM, 94.3ThePoint, 105.7TheHawk, the new Beach 104.1 FM and the Shore Sports Network.

9th Most Read Covid Article...Ocean County Police Chiefs Monitoring Coronavirus Activity. (13,177 page views), Story Date: March 13, 2020.

As Ocean County officials remained vigilant in their prevention measures to keep everyone safe, a series of meetings were held to develop several plans to ensure the proper precautions are being taken.

The Ocean County Police Chiefs Association President and Harvey Cedars Police Chief Robert Burnaford released a statement on Friday March 13 detailing their plan of action at that point.

"In response to the increasing risk from the COVID-19 epidemic, the members of the Ocean County Police Chiefs Association have been working together to proactively prepare for and address the challenges that our communities might experience should Covid-19 impact our service populations.

Our Chiefs and their agencies are actively working to modify and adjust our procedures and delivery of law enforcement services to mitigate the risks to the community associated with Covid-19 while maintaining the high level of service populations expect.

Our member Chiefs continue to conference on a daily basis to ensure that we are working together and leveraging the considerable knowledge and experience of our law enforcement leaders for the benefit of our jurisdictions within Ocean County.

We will continue to work together and collaborate with our partners at the County, State and Federal levels to ensure that we are prepared to effectively respond to the community's public safety needs during this challenging time."

A few days later, response methods to certain calls for service were altered.

As the amount of positive coronavirus cases continued to rise in New Jersey, Police Chiefs in Ocean County came up with alternate response methods to keep officers safe as well as residents.

President of the Ocean County Police Chiefs Association and Harvey Cedars Police Chief Robert Burnaford told 92.7 WOBM News that law enforcement's goal is to protect and serve the community but in order to do that police chiefs need to make sure they're protecting the men and women who work in their department.

"All of the chiefs in the county and state and throughout are faced with the same dilemma with keeping everybody safe but we have to keep the men and women in our respective agencies safe as well," Burnaford said.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many police departments in Ocean County modified their patrol procedures.

"Some of those modifications include taking reports over the phone," Chief Burnaford said. "Some of the calls for service that don't require an on-scene investigation or there's evidence to be collected, we encourage everyone to call their local police departments and an officer will be able to take all that information over the phone."

To determine which calls warrant a response and which ones can be handled online or over the phone, the dispatchers in the Ocean County Sheriff Department's 911 center have a set list of questions that they'll even repeat to make sure the caller clarifies what's going on and if they have any symptoms related to coronavirus.

9th Most Watched Covid Video...Monmouth County Covid Business & Primary Plans. (1,757 Video Views), Story Date: May 28, 2020.

The amount of positive Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations across the state continued to trend downward in late May but the health and safety rules and regulations that have been in place for the last 10-weeks were still in play heading into the summer and businesses were still waiting for guidance on when they can reopen.

Instead of waiting for Governor Murphy to make decisions to reopen the state economy and in lieu of what those plans may entail, Monmouth County Freeholder Director Tom Arnone prepared a pitch for the Governor to let each county decide when to reopen and how to do so safely.

"We know our county, we know Monmouth County, we know what's best for our businesses and our residents to be able to work and achieve profit and more importantly to be safe," Arnone said. "I have to believe no business wants to open up and then close back up because of some scare or health issue that occurs in their building. I have the utmost faith in each and every one of our businesses."

The Covid-19 pandemic also presented a number of challenges and changes leading up to the July 7th primaries and adjustments were being made in Monmouth County.

"Every active registered Republican or Democrat voter will receive a mail-in ballot to vote in the July 7th primary election," Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon said.

This affects about 250,000 affiliated voters receiving a mail-in ballot but there's confusion among some of the 200,000 unaffiliated voters who will be receiving a special mail-in ballot application to apply for a ballot to vote in the election.

You can read more about the story on our website and app.

Check back here on our website and app for #8 in our countdown of the Top-10 Most Read Jersey Shore Covid News Articles and Most Watched Jersey Shore Covid News Videos of 2020.

Top-10 Covid Stories Recap:

10th Most Read Covid Article...Lakewood Toy Store With 50 People Among Shore Gatherings Broken Up.

10th Most Watched Covid Video....Monmouth County Opens Up Six Free Covid-19 Test Sites.

You can follow Vin Ebenau on Twitter and Instagram and email news tips to vin.ebenau@townsquaremedia.com.