TRENTON, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- New Jersey will prohibit indoor dining after 10 p.m., ban barside seating and hit pause on all interstate indoor youth sporting events this week in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday.
Starting Thursday, Nov. 12, restaurants, bars, clubs and lounges will not be allowed to offer indoor dining between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., Murphy said at a news briefing Monday afternoon.
Businesses will be allowed to offer outdoor dining, takeout and delivery past 10 p.m., he noted. Casinos will also have to stop serving food and drinks after 10 p.m., but their gaming operations will be allowed to continue "around the clock," he said.
New Jersey will also be prohibiting all barside seating, Murphy said. Restaurants will be allowed to place tables closer than six feet apart, but only if they are separated by barriers.
Businesses will also be able to set up individual, "fully-enclosed dining bubbles" outdoors, but the bubbles must be "thoroughly cleaned and sanitized between uses," he said.
The state is also banning interstate games and tournaments for indoor youth sports — including high school sports — starting Thursday.
"It is simply not safe for teams to be crossing state lines at this time to participate in indoor competitions," Murphy said.
Murphy on Monday reported 2,075 new positive COVID-19 test results, pushing the state's total to 256,653. The governor also reported 11 new COVID-19 fatalities, bringing the state's death toll to 14,640.
As of Sunday, 1,537 people in the state were hospitalized with confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases, 309 of whom were in intensive care and 94 of whom were on ventilators.
Hospitalizations have not surpassed 1,500 since June 9, and the number of patients in intensive care has not topped 300 since June 17, he noted.
Murphy told CNBC Monday morning that the state would "take some steps later today, but they won't come close to what we were doing in the spring. This is not a lockdown, but this is tweaking our parameters at the edges."
"We've got a six-month window, basically, to keep this thing in check," before vaccines start to become widely available, he added.
