TRENTON, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- New Jersey could start shutting down bars if patrons keep failing to social distance and refusing to wear masks, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday.
Photos taken over the weekend show throngs of maskless patrons waiting in lines outside bars including Jenkinson's Boardwalk Bar & Grill in Point Pleasant Beach, D'Jais and 10th Ave Burrito Co. in Belmar and Donovan's Reef in Sea Bright, Murphy said during a COVID-19 briefing Monday afternoon.
While New Jersey's COVID-19 transmission rate has dropped below 1 — to 0.98 — Murphy warned residents not to "look at that and think it means that coronavirus is no longer with us, or that you can go ahead and leave your mask at home or join a big crowd waiting to get into a bar with your friends."
"Folks, this is not a game," he said. "Standing around maskless in a crowd outside a bar is just as big a knucklehead move as standing around maskless inside one."
"The patrons in these bars need to get on the same page, and quickly. Your responsibility to help stop the spread of coronavirus doesn't go on pause when you're standing in line," he added. "If we have to shut places down to protect public health, then we will. Consider this your warning before you go out drinking this weekend."
New Jersey will also continue to crack down on large house parties, Murphy noted. Over the weekend, officials broke up a "huge house party" in Howell, he said.
Murphy on Monday reported 258 new COVID-19 cases and four new deaths, bringing the state's case total to 185,031 and its death toll to 14,025.
As of Sunday, 545 people in the state were hospitalized with confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases, 83 of whom were in intensive care units and 29 of whom were on ventilators.
"We're at lows for ICU beds and ventilators we haven't seen since early March," he said.
