Newark enacts business restrictions amid second wave of COVID-19 (updated)

Including 8 p.m. closures of indoor restaurants, stores

Gabrielle Saulsbery//October 26, 2020//

Newark enacts business restrictions amid second wave of COVID-19 (updated)

Including 8 p.m. closures of indoor restaurants, stores

Gabrielle Saulsbery//October 26, 2020//

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Newark’s non-essential businesses must close nightly and restaurants must end indoor dining at 8 p.m. beginning Tuesday, according to an announcement from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on Monday.

Additionally, beauty salons, nail salons, and barbershops are to be open by appointment only; and gyms and health clubs must close for half an hour each hour for sanitizing.

The restrictions, which will be reassessed on Nov. 10, are a response to an uptick in COVID-19 cases that Sunday had the city reporting more new cases of COVID-19 than all other municipalities in Essex County combined.

The state will help Newark with access to rapid testing and more contact tracers, as well as a space for people to safely quarantine.

Ras Baraka, mayor, City of Newark
Baraka

“This is not the first time COVID-19 has threatened our city and its residents at this magnitude and once again, we will meet this challenge with determination and guided by data,” Baraka said Monday. “We are Newark strong and can get through this together. We did it once before and we can do it again.”

Without exception, all stores except supermarkets, pharmacies, and gas stations will close at 8 p.m. every day.

Restaurants and bars must close their indoor service at 8 p.m. and outdoor service at 11 p.m. Patrons coming inside must have their temperatures taken and will be asked if they’ve had contact with anyone with COVID-19.

At gyms, patrons can stay inside with masks on while machines are being sanitized and can return after they’re cleaned.‍

Gov. Phil Murphy was pressed over the course of his Monday briefing on whether it violates a prior executive order from the spring barring towns and cities from enacting their own restrictions, and said he would “stand right beside” the Newark mayor.

“This isn’t the first time Newark’s gone through this. They have a painful history” with the virus, the governor said.

He frequently alluded to “scalpel” restrictions rather than a “blunt statewide instrument” to contain outbreaks, and suggested that Newark restrictions were a step in that direction.

Gov. Phil Murphy announces a deal on the millionaire's tax on Sept. 17, 2020 in Trenton.
Gov. Phil Murphy announces a deal on the millionaire’s tax on Sept. 17, 2020 in Trenton. – EDWIN J. TORRES/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

“These are literally steps at the edges that the mayor took, which we think are smart steps, but are not counter to our executive orders.”

City Hall will be open by appointment only, and recreation centers citywide will be closed to everything but school-related programs for essential employees. Sports activities and open park practices and games in the East Ward are canceled.

And lastly, Newark is discouraging all parties, indoor and outdoor festivals, and large family gatherings; and encouraging all city employees to be tested immediately and periodically thereafter.

“Until, and even after, a vaccine is made available to every Newarker, the most potent immunization we will have available is a decision to take personal responsibility to obey and model the recommendations that keep us all safe,” said Dr. Mark Wade, director of Health and Community Wellness for the City of Newark in a prepared statement. “All of us will need each other to get us through as individuals, neighborhoods, communities and a city, and to save the lives of those we love the most, each other!”

The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Newark as of Oct. 23, was 10,041, with 673 deaths.

Newark’s spot positivity rate Sunday was 11.2%, in comparison to New Jersey’s test positivity rate of 5.28%; and for the dates of Oct. 11 to Oct. 17 the rate is 11.8%.

The city’s positivity rate has not been this high since the week ending May 23. In some parts of the city, it’s higher, such as in the East Ward, which has a spot positivity rate of 25.3%.

Editor’s note: This article was updated on Oct. 26, 2020 at 2:22 p.m. EST to add Gov. Murphy’s remarks.