Westfield's Rzeznik To Play From Porch On Kelly And Ryan Show

WESTFIELD, NJ — It was just last Friday that John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, a Westfield resident, gave a live concert from his porch to raise awareness for a new fund to help independent Westfield businesses amid the coronavirus crisis.

Now Rzeznik will appear on the ABC morning show "Live with Kelly and Ryan" at 9 a.m. Friday to repeat the feat, again from his porch in Westfield.

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Last week, Mayor Shelley Brindle posted on Facebook, "LIVE with Westfield resident John Rzeznik, lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls, as we kick off our We Love Local fundraiser to support independently owned Westfield businesses impacted by this crisis. Please donate at Westfieldunitedfund.org and they will match the first $15k in donations. #welovelocal."

The town has also posted lists of restaurants that deliver and ways to help local businesses.

"I'm always happy to help out," the musician said at the time, and then encouraged social distancing: "I hope everybody is doing the right thing, staying a few feet away from everybody, staying home."

The concert lasted more than ten minutes. You can check it out here.

Twenty-six residents in Westfield have tested positive for the virus, including a 38-year-old man who shared his story on Patch last week.

In an email on Thursday night, Mayor Shelley Brindle said, "These [26] include seven additional cases in Westfield — two males (ages 59 and 22) and five females (ages 52, 45, 43, 32 and 20) — all are managing symptoms at home."

Experts say that the new coronavirus (COVID-19), because it's new, is more lethal and much harder to treat than the flu.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

Got news? Email caren.lissner@patch.com

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