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TRENTON – Amid growing COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, New Jersey is tightening economic activity, but without lockdowns seen in spring.
At a press conference Nov. 9, Gov. Phil Murphy announced new restrictions to slow the disease’s fall resurgence, particularly with measures regulating indoor dining and indoor youth sports. The rules were announced on a day where New Jersey reported 2,705 new COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths, with the county reporting 34 cases and no deaths. The new regulations will take effect Nov. 12.
The first restriction announced is a timeframe for indoor dining services, where restaurants, bars, clubs and lounges aren’t permitted to have indoor dining between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Outdoor dining, however, can continue between those designated hours.
North of Cape May County, in Atlantic City, casinos must adhere to the 10 p.m. curfew, as well, where they’ll be forced to halt food and drink services at that time.
Barside seating won’t be available, as well, and bars and restaurants can seat tables closer than 6 feet, the suggested measurement for social distancing, if a barrier is placed between them.
The governor offered New Jerseyans reassurance that the case growth is at a point to where stricter, draconian-type lockdowns from spring are not needed to reverse COVID-19’s resurgence, tweeting, “The last thing I want to do is shut our economy back down. Thankfully, we’re not at that point. We’re taking steps today to mitigate the current increasing rate of spread. We MUST shake off pandemic fatigue & get back into the mindset that saw us crush the curve this spring.”
Seeing a potential for the coronavirus to be brought into the state through interstate indoor youth sports, Murphy opted to prohibit the activity for the time being, specifically referring to youth indoor hockey tournaments being held in New Jersey with teams from other states. As of Nov. 9, New Jersey’s self-quarantine travel advisory list classified 43 states as high-risk for travel due to the rolling average of COVID-19 cases.
“It is simply not safe for teams to be crossing state lines at this time to participate in indoor competitions,” read a portion of a separate tweet from Murphy.
To contact Eric Conklin, email econklin@cmcherald.com.
