New Jersey residents can gather in vehicles for things like religious services and drive-in movies as Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday he’s easing some restrictions he put in place to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Murphy’s new executive order also allows nonessential retail stores in the state to reopen for curbside pickup only, while nonessential construction is permitted to resume. Both go into effect beginning Monday at 6 a.m.
The clarification on gatherings involving vehicles comes with some restrictions.
“We are stating that gatherings of vehicles, such as drive-in movies or religious services, are not a violation of my order prohibiting mass gatherings, so long as all participants remain in their cars,” Murphy said at his daily coronavirus briefing in Trenton. “If vehicles are closer than six feet apart, then all windows, sunroofs, or convertible tops must remain closed, unless the safety of the occupants is endangered.”
Murphy said that clarification is effective immediately.
“I must reiterate, however, in other cases, the ban on gatherings still applies, and that residents should still stay at home as much as possible,” he added.
Murphy said the moves are possible because the state is making some strides in combating the virus.
“New hospitalizations are down two-thirds from the peak,” he said. “Total hospitalizations are down by nearly half since the peak. The numbers of patients in ICU and on ventilators are both down significantly. Positive cases are down nearly 70% and deaths have decreased by more than one-third from the peak.”
New Jersey’s 71 hospitals reported 4,226 patients with confirmed or suspected cases of the coronavirus as of Tuesday night. That’s down 48% from the peak in hospitalizations on April 14 and marks a month of steady declines. New Jersey has 1,226 patients in critical care, and 928 on ventilators, both the lowest number since the state started publicly tracking that data on April 4.
Murphy said Tuesday that officials plan to increase testing capacity to 20,000 a day by the end of the month and hire at least 1,000 contact tracers as part of a reopening strategy.
He also said New Jersey’s timeline to reopen from near-lockdown restrictions will be handled statewide, not regionally. He warned it will be done incrementally and that there will be no "on/off light switch” when it comes to reopening.
Still, the governor said Monday people could get “hard dates” later this week on when the state can begin to reopen.
The governor has not answered questions from reporters regarding a timetable for reopening. Instead, he has relied on two phrases: “data determines dates” and “public health creates economic health.”