PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey is easing more COVID-19 restrictions, just in time for end-of-the-year school celebrations.
Starting May 10, indoor capacities will increase to 50%, with a maximum of 250 people. This applies to catered events like weddings and school proms, as well as funerals, memorial services and performances.
Dance floors, like proms, will be open with social distancing and masking in place. Nightclubs, however, will remain closed.
Currently, the indoor limit is set at 35% with a maximum of 150 people.
The New Jersey Department of Education will issue further guidance on proms and graduations.
Outdoor gatherings will also expand. The general outdoor gathering limit will increase from 200 to 500 individuals, while large outdoor venues will increase to 50% capacity, also effective May 10.
Outdoor carnivals and fairs will be allowed to operate at 50% capacity, aligned with other amusement businesses.
Gov. Phil Murphy said he’s raising capacities because the state’s COVID-19 metrics are improving. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are trending downward.
More than 6.7 million vaccine doses have been administered across the Garden State. More than 2.8 million New Jerseyans are fully vaccinated, which is 60% of the state’s goal.
“We have been eager to relax our restrictions as soon as the numbers gave us confidence that we could do so safely and responsibly, and that time has come,” he said.
Murphy hopes to ease more restrictions in the coming weeks, especially before Memorial Day. He said the state will issue further guidance on summer camps, both day and overnight, in the next few days.
For now, the outdoor mask mandate will remain in place for when people can’t be 6 feet apart.
Murphy also reiterated that outdoor dining is not subject to capacity limits. "The only limitation is the number of groups you can place outdoors that can be spaced six feet apart," he tweeted. Indoor dining remains at 50% capacity.
“If the numbers keep going in the right direction,” Murphy added, “and people keep continuing to do the right thing — including especially getting vaccinated — our capacities will continue to open up.”