NEW JERSEY — Citing a coronavirus transmission rate nearly double what it was a month ago, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday he was limiting indoor gatherings to 25 people and to 25 percent capacity per room, reversing a previous increase to 100 people.
He said the reversal would not apply to weddings, funerals, or any religious or political activity protected by the First Amendment, which are still limited to 100.
He specifically cited recent indoor house parties as adding to the increased transmission rate, noting dozens of coronavirus cases linked to parties in Middletown and Long Beach Island.
He said the 1.48 transmission rate is up from 0.87 a month ago. The rate is a measure of how many people get the virus from each person who has it.
He also cited a recent party at an Airbnb house party in Jackson, which drew more than 700 people and led to an Airbnb crackdown.
Murphy said that the last 24 hours had seen the confirmation of 10 new coronavirus deaths in the state. He said 356 people are currently hospitalized statewide with the virus, including a child under 18, as well as another 382 hospitalizations being investigated as possible cases. Of the confirmed hospitalizations, 144 people are in intensive care and 49 are on ventilators.
A total of 13,971 New Jersey residents have now died as a result of the virus, and 182,350 cases have been confirmed.
The death rate has steadily declined from a one-day high on April 30 of 460 people in 24 hours, or one person every three minutes.
Murphy warned Monday that large indoor gatherings, particularly without masks and social distancing, “just are not safe,” and said that all people invited to indoor gatherings should wear face coverings.
He said, regarding his new order, “The actions of a few knuckleheads leave us no choice.”
He said that he expects local police to enforce the new order, and that people should not think they can “skate by with a wink and a nod. We remain in a public health emergency.”
Last week, the governor warned that after a long period of decline, coronavirus cases are on the rise again, and that indoor parties have been largely responsible for the uptick.
Last month, Murphy also warned about residents returning from other states that had reopened earlier than New Jersey and whose cases were hitting daily records. He asked for residents to quarantine after coming from 34 states that are seeing spikes.
States around the country have had to pull back on their reopenings, including Texas, which this summer began seeing a record number of hospitalizations and deaths as facilities reopened.
Children and schools
Murphy said Monday that he wanted to clarify that all children in public schools will be required to wear face coverings at all times, with certain exceptions. The administration had released its broad school reopening guidelines in late June. Schools must offer the option of full-day remote learning in each district.
While most children in the United States have avoided severe symptoms from the virus, they can transmit it to teachers, parents, and others, studies show. A recent large-scale study in South Koreasuggested that teens spread the virus at the same rate as adults, and more easily than younger children. The CDC also confirmed a large outbreak at a camp in Georgia in a press conference Friday.
PEABODY, PATCH
