PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey is allowing wedding receptions to be a little larger, under the latest COVID-19 restrictions to be eased by Gov. Phil Murphy. The rules on social distancing and masks, however, still hold.
Effective Friday, March 5, indoor wedding receptions can take place at 35% of capacity, up to 150 people. The indoor cap for receptions had been 10 people. New Jersey is also allowing sleepaway camps to operate this summer – something that didn't happen last year.
Murphy said he knows these events take a long time to plan, and the state's COVID-19 numbers are slowly moving in the right direction. "As we slowly recover, we want people to be able to celebrate the good things," he said.
On vaccines, the governor said he expected incremental supply increases until the end of this month.
"Your inflection point, folks, is either side of Easter, which is on April 4," he said. "I believe the supplies both – not just J&J but Pfizer and Moderna are – I’m going to use the word – explode."
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Murphy said he would like to be able to increase restaurant capacity, but he's concerned about the variants that are spreading. In particular, the state reported the first cases of the Brazilian variant of the virus. State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said her department was investigating two cases reported in Hudson County.
When asked about states including Texas removing COVID-19 restrictions, the governor said he was stunned.
"I don't know what these states are looking at. It just takes my breath away," he expressed. "No capacity restrictions and no masking, particularly indoors."
In addition, Murphy extended New Jersey's moratorium on utility shutoffs through the end of June.