UPDATED: 3:05 p.m.
TRENTON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey will now require people to wear masks indoors and outdoors, Gov. Phil Murphy announced on MSNBC on Wednesday. The lone exception to the outdoor mandate is if you can keep 6 feet away from everyone else, or if you are dining al fresco.
He said the action is necessary, given the overall increase in viral spread across the country. That includes New Jersey, where the person-to-person infection rate has gone above 1 in recent days.
"It's a lot of bully pulpit. It's a lot of pleading to personal responsibility for folks to do the right thing," Murphy said. "We call it 'common sense for the common good.'"
At least where mask-wearing is concerned, he says, local police can issue tickets to violators.
There are also some more changes to outdoor dining.
Restaurants that can open two of their four walls can have customers under the roof with the sides open.
Crowds at the recently reopened Motor Vehicle Commission offices are being urged to do their business online. For those who can't, MVC worker furloughs are being waived and the offices are going to a six-day week starting next week to handle the backlog.
With 335 new positive cases, the total number of coronavirus cases in the state since March 4 is 174,039 cases. The state also confirmed 53 additional coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the total to 13,476 fatalities.
