Gov. Murphy To Loosen NJ's Indoor COVID-19 Rules

NEW JERSEY — Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Wednesday that he's rolling back some restrictions on indoor gatherings that he set in place in November.

Murphy announced that limits on indoor gatherings will increase to 35 percent, up from the current 25 percent, effective 8 a.m. on Friday. The number of people permitted indoors will be limited to 150.

Murphy made the announcement during his news conference on Wednesday. Patch covered it live. Read more: WATCH: Gov. Murphy's NJ COVID-19, Vaccine, Nor'easter Update

Of note, Murphy announced that restaurants will also be permitted to stay open past 10 p.m. The announcement comes as restaurants and bars prepare for Super Bowl Sunday, this weekend.

Towns will be allowed to place their own restrictions, too, but customers will still not be able to sit at the bar, Murphy said.

The changes will also apply to gyms, casinos, performance venues, barber shops, hair salons and amusement and indoor recreation. Religious ceremonies such as weddings and memorial services or funerals would also be allowed to expand attendance.

Murphy said the changes are being made because "the data says we can." He pointed to a 20 percent decrease in the number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations over the last three weeks. He also acknowledged that the transmission rate is below 1, and it has hovered around 1 for a few months.

"I feel comfortable signing this order because of our recent hospital trends and our rate of transmission," Murphy said. "While some of these numbers are still high, we believe we can make this expansion without leading to undue or further stress on our healthcare system. The proprietors have done an exceptional job, but so much of the credit needs to go to the millions of you who have taken your responsibility for ending this pandemic to heart."

He added that because the state reopened restaurants responsibly, the state has never reduced capacity.

"We opened indoor dining on Sept. 4 to 25 percent, and I believe that we are the only state in America that has never wavered up or down from that," Murphy said. "As you would hope we would, we will closely monitor this, and stay ahead of it."

The announcement also comes as more than 2,000 additional cases and 52 new deaths statewide were announced. The cumulative total is now 19,506 confirmed deaths and 2,187 probable deaths since the pandemic began.

There are also 2,986 patients who have been hospitalized due to the coronavirus, including 288 new hospitalizations that were reported on Wednesday. There are 525 patients in intensive care and 374 on ventilators, and 41 new in-hospital deaths were reported. At the same time, 162 patients have been discharged.

The positivity rate is 11.65 percent, which Murphy said is higher than the state would like to see.

Indoor gathering limits had been capped since November as a Thanksgiving holiday precautionary measure. Read more: Gov. Murphy: NJ To Lower Gathering Limits Amid Coronavirus Spikes

Republican Sens. Declan O’Scanlon and Anthony M. Bucco claimed victory in their effort to convince Murphy to loosen indoor dining restrictions in advance of the Super Bowl.

“I’m glad Governor Murphy listened to us and made some reasonable adjustments to the indoor dining restrictions to help our struggling bars and restaurants in advance of the Super Bowl,” said O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth. “We hope this is the first step in a continual loosening of restrictions that will help thousands of sidelined employees in the hospitality industry get back to work.”

O'Scanlon and Bucco had launched an online petition urging Murphy to lift his 10 p.m. curfew on bars and restaurants for the Super Bowl.

“The governor has said that there’s no evidence that indoor dining has led to coronavirus transmission, yet he’s sticking by arbitrary operating restrictions that have done nothing but hurt our community bars and restaurants and the many thousands of people they employ,” said O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth.

“While I think the 10 p.m. curfew needs to be eliminated going forward and the 25 percent indoor capacity raised significantly, the least Governor Murphy can do is let people enjoy the entirety of the Super Bowl at their favorite establishment without forcing them to go home before the end of the game.”

O’Scanlon, however, took issue with Murphy's announcement to increase indoor dining capacity from 25 to 35 percent.

“As happy as we are that there is some relaxation here, it is still completely outrageous to continue on with this endless slow drip of restrictions being lifted,” he said.

“Every surrounding state is at 50 percent at least. We’ve been behind our neighbors in lifting these draconian regulations for months. And the delay hasn’t shown any indication that we are doing any better with our rate of transmission; we are simply still economically killing our restaurant and hospitality industry.”

Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, released the following statement regarding the incremental relaxing of indoor restrictions and capacity limits:

"Today’s announcement by Governor Murphy is a good step in the right direction, particularly as it relates to restaurants being permitted to stay open past 10 p.m. For many New Jersey establishments, the removal of that curfew will be of great benefit. We hope municipalities will continue to work with establishments to allow for expanded hours upon satisfying safety protocols.

“Obviously, we would like to see greater capacity allowed than the 35 percent announced today. This is what our Main Street businesses, like restaurants, gyms and personal care businesses, really need and what New Jersey needs to galvanize its economic recovery and to get people back to work.

“NJBIA has consistently maintained that creating public health and economic health are not mutually exclusive. A strong majority of our businesses have taken the needed steps – and beyond – to ensure a healthy and safe workplace.

"We are encouraged that the governor is announcing these steps today, but we also respectfully encourage that more will be needed, sooner rather than later, with livelihoods continuing to be at stake.”

With reporting by Tom Davis.