Coronavirus rulebreakers prompt NJ to cancel indoor dining
New Jersey residents won’t be eating in restaurants for a while.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that the state will no longer move forward with its Phase 2 reopening plan, which would allow indoor dining, as coronavirus cases spike throughout the country.
Part of the reason prompting the decision, he said, is that some New Jersyans aren’t following social-distaining rules, wearing face coverings or staying six feet apart from one another in public.
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“Given the current situation in numerous other states, we do not believe it is prudent at this time to push forward with what is, in effect, a sedentary indoor activity — especially when we know that this virus moves differently indoors than out, making it even more deadly,” Murphy said at a briefing Monday. “We have seen spikes in other states driven, in part, by the return of patrons to indoor dining, where they are seated, and without face coverings, for significant periods of time.”
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New Jersey reopened outdoor dining June 15 after nearly three months of only takeout or delivery, but the governor said the move to allow eating inside restaurants is paused indefinitely.
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Indoor dining had been scheduled to resume Thursday with 25 percent capacity limits, tables spaced at least six feet apart and face masks, among other mitigation measures.
New Jersey reported 171,272 positive COVID-19 cases with 13,138 deaths Monday. Florida, Nevada, and South Carolina each reported the highest number of new infections in one day, while outbreaks have been worsening in both California and in Texas.