TRENTON. N.J. (1010 WINS) -- New Jersey officials temporarily revoked an Italian eatery's outdoor dining permit for failing to enforce COVID-19 restrictions amid an ongoing surge in cases across the state, Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday.
Portobello, an Italian restaurant on Ramapo Valley Road in Oakland, hosted a crowd of maskless patrons outdoors the night before Thanksgiving, Murphy said at a news briefing Wednesday afternoon.
Municipal officials revoked the venue's post-4 p.m. outdoor dining permit for 30 days after learning about the gathering, he said.
"Now I'm trying hard… to find a mask anywhere in that crowd, and there certainly isn't any effort to socially distance," the governor said as he shared a photo taken at the venue that night. "The entire concept of personal responsibility is completely absent."
The "overwhelming" majority of restaurant owners in the state, Murphy noted, are "playing by the rules and doing the right things." 1010 WINS has reached out to Portobello for comment.
New Jersey on Wednesday reported 56 new COVID-19-related fatalities, pushing the state's death toll to 15,309, he said. The state also reported 4,350 new positive COVID-19 test results, bringing its case total to 346,206.
As of Tuesday evening, 3,287 New Jerseyans were hospitalized with confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases, up from 3,129 on Monday. The state is "closely watching the increasing numbers from our hospitals," the governor said.
"The fewer people in our hospitals, the less stress and strain on our health care system, and the less chance that one of our doctors, nurses, EMTs and medical professionals contract this virus," he said.
And while New Jersey is expected to receive its first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks, the state is still "months away from a vaccine being readily available for public distribution," he noted.
"Everyone wants to know when this is going to be over, and when they can put their masks in a drawer and freely gather again with family and friends," he said. "And these numbers tell us the answer, at least for now: not anytime soon."
