Gyms, indoor dining and theaters were permitted to reopen more than two weeks ago, and according to top state health officials, there’s been no evidence linking COVID-19 outbreaks to any of those establishments.
“I don’t think we have evidence at this point that links these outbreaks back to any restaurant or gym or indoor entertainment or movie theater,” Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday afternoon at his daily COVID-19 press briefing in Trenton.
The governor signed an order at the end of August allowing indoor dining and theaters to reopen starting Sept. 4, just before Labor Day weekend, which marks the end of the summer tourism season. Gyms were permitted to reopen on Sept. 1.
In both cases, these establishments are bound to strict sanitization rules and reduced capacity requirements. Patrons are also required to wear masks, and in regard to indoor dining, they must be worn while not seated at tables.
Gov. Phil Murphy announces a deal on the millionaire’s tax on Sept. 17, 2020 in Trenton. – EDWIN J. TORRES/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
“Gyms, restaurants, overwhelmingly, are doing the right thing,” the governor said on Monday.
A recent surge in new cases, especially in Monmouth and Ocean counties, has been traced back to a cluster of house parties and social gatherings among young people, according to state health officials.
“We’re finding some very common patterns with regard to why we’re seeing increases. A lot are associated with gatherings,” State Epidemiologist Christina Tan said on Friday.
On Monday, the state’s total number of COVID-19 cases passed 200,000, according to data from the New Jersey Department of Health.
Over the last week, the state logged some of the highest single-day numbers of new cases since a previous surge at the end of July, which state officials said also came in part from a spread of social gatherings from people in their teens and 20s.
The rate of transmission – or how quickly the virus spreads – has hovered above 1 for several weeks, while the positivity rate among new COVID-19 tests has stayed at over 2 percent.
“This is part of the ebb and flow, and partly explainable by specific events, and a lot of testing capacity,” Murphy said.
And it’s that, rather than a widely-feared second wave of the virus, which is expected to slam the state’s health system as colder weather approaches, and likely coincide with the flu season.
“Right now, I would not say it’s a wave,” Edward Lifshitz, communicable disease medical director at the state’s health department, said on Monday. Positivity rates, transmission and emergency department usage would be much higher, he said.
