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UPDATED: 3:50 p.m.
Citing problems reported with Wisconsin's primary election on Tuesday, Murphy said his goal is to prevent voters from needing to choose between voting and protecting their health.
He said he hoped moving New Jersey's primary from June 2 to July 7 would buy enough time — either to improve the public health situation enough to allow in-person voting, or to set up a statewide vote-by-mail system.
The second order contains several moves to further enforce adequate social distancing.
"If you think we're out of the woods, this executive order will disavow you of that," Murphy said.
Under the order, all nonessential construction will cease as of 8 p.m. Friday, with exceptions that include work on hospitals, schools, transportation infrastructure, utilities, affordable housing, and other housing sites that are able to stick to strict limits on the numbers of workers on site.
Further, Murphy said, all essential retail must limit the number of customers in stores to 50% of the approved capacity. Customers and workers must wear masks, stores must set special hours for the most vulnerable populations, and shields between customers and cashiers must be installed.
The order also extends greater protection to warehouse workers.
However, Murphy reassured the public: “We are not running out of food or other items. Period. Our supply chain is feeling the stress, but it is holding strong.”
The third order increases the weight limit on highways from 40 tons to 46 tons for trucks carrying COVID-19 relief supplies. The option to do so, Murphy said, comes from last week's federal disaster declaration.
Murphy’s latest plea to people: Don’t let their guard down.
“Stay home. Stay away from each other. Flatten the curve aggressively. Don’t let the warm weather or the holidays fool us,” he said.
New field hospital
New Jersey is set to open its second, but largest yet, field hospital as part of the effort to confront the COVID-19 outbreak.
Murphy and other state and military officials on Wednesday toured the 500-bed facility in Edison at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center.
Another field hospital opened recently in Secaucus and has 250 beds.
The field hospitals are expected to serve only non-coronavirus patients, taking pressure off other facilities so they can address those with COVID-19, according to the governor.
Another facility is expected to open in Atlantic City, though it's not clear when.
At least 1,504 people dead
New Jersey is among the hardest-hit states in the country. The governor reported 275 more dead since Tuesday. More than 1,504 people have died so far, and with 3,088 new cases since Tuesday, 47,437 residents have tested positive, according to state health officials.
In South Jersey alone, there are more than 2,350 positive cases, and at least 58 people have died from the virus.
"Even if the rate of our increase is lessening, we have two realities that we cannot escape. One is it is still increasing," Murphy said. "The other observation is this paradox where you have a flattening of the curve of new positive cases but sadly fatalities continuing."
Murphy noted that many of the people who are dying today, were first affected by the virus two or three weeks ago.
Conductor Joe Hansen was 62 and had worked for the agency for more than 20 years, most recently on the Raritan Valley Line.
Eighty-seven NJ Transit employees had tested positive for the coronavirus, including 57 who work operating trains or buses or cleaning stations, the agency said Tuesday.
More than 500 employees were quarantining as they awaited test results, President and CEO Kevin Corbett said. NJ Transit has approximately 12,000 employees.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
At least a dozen deaths at an Elizabeth nursing home were attributed to the virus, Mayor Chris Bollwage told NJ.com.
The facility has been closed to new admissions.
Coronavirus is hitting New Jersey's nursing homes hard. Half of the state's 375 facilities have at least one positive case of the virus, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli has said.
New testing site
Officials in Gloucester County opened their first drive-thru coronavirus testing site on Wednesday.
On Day One of testing at Rowan College of Gloucester County, some 70 examinations were scheduled.
"In the coming weeks, we’ll be able to do more, I'm sure," Scott Woodside, who directs the Wellness Center at Rowan University and oversees this operation, said.
"Our partners are Quest and LabCorp and Rowan Medicine and Inspira. They’ve all been working well with us to make this happen. But all those pieces have to come together to make it work."
Officials say they would have done this sooner, were it not for the lack of test kits.
"Getting the tests is the biggest problem," said county Freeholder Jim Jefferson. "It was just securing the tests. We weren’t a high number of positives earlier. We’re sympathetic to the other counties that had higher numbers, but after that just getting the tests was the biggest problem."
During a testing session, participants do not have to leave their vehicles. They lower their windows only long enough to get a nose swab done. Results are complete in four to seven days.
These tests are open to Gloucester County residents who have visible symptoms of COVID-19. Appointments are necessary and are scheduled by phone at 856-218-4142.
Ocean City outsiders
The mayor of a New Jersey shore town says residents have been begging him to close the bridges into town to keep outsiders away during the virus outbreak.
Jay Gillian wrote in a message to residents Tuesday night that he does not have that authority.
But even if he did, the mayor wrote, that would set a bad precedent. "Now is not the time to point fingers and to blame others,'' he wrote. "It's a time to work together. If we spend our energy scorning our neighbors, we will leave scars that will last much longer than coronavirus.''
Ocean City is one of many resort towns around the nation where a contentious online debate has raged — pitting year-round residents against visitors or summer residents — over whether it is appropriate for part-timers to go there during the virus outbreak, potentially spreading contagion and overwhelming local resources.
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