TRENTON, N.J. (AP/KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey students from kindergarten to 12th grade will be required to wear masks in schools when the new year begins in a few weeks, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday as COVID-19 cases rise in the state.
As expected, Murphy’s announcement is receiving both support and scorn.
The move was praised by the leader of the New Jersey Education Association and the superintendent of Camden schools, Katrina McCombs. But the Republican candidate for governor, Jack Ciattarelli, called the executive order “bewildering” and said masking should be a parent’s choice.
Hunterdon County Republican state Sen. Mike Doherty blasted the decision, tweeting, “Murphy seems oblivious to the fact that children have a 99.97% survival rate for COVID-19.”
Murphy said his decision was not political.
“There are issues that are and must always remain above politics,” he said, “and this is one of them. Anyone telling you that we can safely reopen our schools without requiring everyone inside to wear a mask is quite simply lying to you.”
The decision to require masks for full-time in-person learning is an about-face from just a few weeks ago when Murphy said it would take a "deterioration" of COVID-19 data to require masks.
The state's figures, like many across the country, have been trending up in recent weeks. The seven-day rolling average of new cases climbed over the past two weeks from 512 on July 20 to 1,104 on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The surging figures are part of a nationwide struggle with the contagious delta variant, which has been leading — along with vaccination holdouts — to higher hospitalization rates across the country.
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Unlike other places in the country, though, New Jersey's vaccination rate is among the highest in the nation.
Nationwide, the percentage of adults fully vaccinated against COVID-19 stands at nearly 61%. In New Jersey, the rate is 71%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New Jersey was an early hotspot in March 2020, and the state's positive cases and hospitalizations haven't reached the high levels they did early on in the outbreak, but they're higher than they were a few months ago as vaccinations became more widely available.
The first-term governor's decision comes amid some pushback against masks in schools, particularly among some Republicans and parents who worry about the effects masks could have on their children's psychological and physical health.
Earlier this week, Murphy argued back with protesters skeptical about vaccinations at a public event. "You've lost your minds," Murphy said, "You are the ultimate knuckleheads."
Murphy assured the mask order was not permanent, adding he hopes it can be lifted as soon as conditions allow.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.