UPDATED: 3:50 p.m.
SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — With COVID-19 cases surging in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday announced new restrictions on the service industry and youth sports in an effort to slow the increasing spread of the coronavirus.
He emphasized, however, that the new steps are not as restrictive as the measures imposed in the spring.
“This is not a lockdown, but this is tweaking our parameters at the edges,” Murphy said Monday morning on CNBC.
Effective Thursday, Nov. 12, indoor dining is not allowed between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. at restaurants, bars, clubs and lounges. However, outdoor dining, takeout and delivery services may continue past 10 p.m.
Indoor bar seating will not be allowed at all. Murphy has said that sitting in a bar creates a higher likelihood of viral transmission, and patrons are inclined to let their guards down in restaurants that stay open late.
Casinos are required to stop serving food and drinks at 10 p.m.
Restaurants may place tables closer than 6 feet apart if they are separated by barriers.
As for outdoor seating, restaurants may build individual, fully enclosed “dining bubbles” for patrons.
Also starting Thursday, all interstate games and tournaments for indoor youth sports, including high school, are prohibited. New Jersey teams can play other New Jersey teams, but they can’t travel out of state, he said.
“It is simply not safe for teams to be crossing state lines at this time to participate in indoor competitions,” Murphy added.
Health experts don’t think transmission at indoor competitions happens because of the sport itself, but rather because of adjacent activities before or after, particularly in multi-state tournaments.
The governor said these actions are imperative because case counts are rising — an average of 2,300 new cases a day over the last four days. Monday is the first day since June 9 that hospitalizations have topped 1,500.
“The numbers are going up and in the wrong direction,” he said.
He hopes any future restrictions will be as limited as possible.
“The last thing I want to do is shut our economy back down. Thankfully, we’re not at that point,” said Murphy, who was joined by Sen. Cory Booker and Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli for the announcement. “We are taking surgical steps that we hope will help mitigate the current increasing rate of spread. No one up here wants to take the type of broad and all-encompassing actions like those we had to take in March.”
The state anticipates a broad distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine by spring 2021, but there’s nothing set in stone yet. And, everyone still has to get through the rest of fall and winter safely. He said mask-wearing and social distancing is important, as well as not falling victim to COVID-19 fatigue.
The governor also announced that the New Jersey State Police and the Department of Education will be distributing more than 2.4 million masks to students, teachers and school staff throughout the state, with priority given to low-income and high-needs populations.