"I have enormous sympathy for the challenges that our restaurateurs are going through, and the thousands of dollars I don't take lightly for one second. But there's also 15,000 lives that we've lost and we're trying to save every single one going forward," he said.
Murphy mentioned scenes of people crowding at bars not wearing masks.
He was asked why not just take action against the bars where his social distancing orders were being violated. He responded, saying violators could lose their liquor licenses.
There are now 16 states on the list from which visitors would have to quarantine if coming to New Jersey. Those states are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.
The state announced 461 additional coronavirus cases, bringing the state total to 171,667 cases.
