When thousands of concert-goers packed into Chicago’s Grant Park for the Lollapalooza music festival at the end of July, the event drew widespread scorn from public health experts. In New Jersey, organizers of live events - from concerts, to fairs and conventions - are bringing audiences back together, cautiously in some cases.

The announcement makes the State Judiciary, which handles the network of county and appeals courts, and the state Supreme Court, the largest government agency in New Jersey to mandate the inoculation for its workers.

Eligibility is limited to those with a maximum of 2,500 seats that hold at least two live performances a week, get at least half of their revenue from performances, and suffered a 25% loss between the second quarters - April to June - of 2019 and 2020.

The airline, which uses Newark Liberty International as one of its main hubs, says an estimated 90% of pilots and 80% of flight attendants have already gotten the jab. It plans on giving an extra payday to those vaccinated by Sept. 20.

The state is still looking at other avenues to improve inoculation rates with both carrot and sticks, but the governor stopped short of saying whether he would follow New York City's lead and require the shot to take part in most public activities.

Despite a statewide requirement that goes into effect on Sept. 7 for health care and other frontline workers to either be inoculated or adhere to routine testing, the governor has resisted the enactment of a universal standard at the state level.

The event scheduled for Oct. 6 and 7 at the Harborside Atrium in Jersey City expects a crowd turn-out of more than 5,000.

A nationwide poll from Monmouth University shows largely divided reactions to the latest development of the pandemic based on political affiliation.

The spread of the delta variant could slow down the national and state-level economic recovery. But an economic downturn of the magnitude of what occurred in March and April last year is unlikely, according to many economic experts. “The general view is it wouldn’t be anything like last year,” said Charles Steindel, the state’s former chief economist.

The 361-bed Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck was widely regarded as among New Jersey’s first epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic. And so while CEO Michael Maron contends the latest surges in the delta variant are indeed worrisome, they’re by no means a reason to “create an alarmist narrative,” which he’s seen circulating in public.  “This to me is one of the real concerns I have,” he said in an interview. “There’s a lot of misinformation.”

According to the latest data from the New Jersey Health Department, the state logged 1,017 new instances on Thursday, a mark not recorded since May 8.

Beginning Aug. 4, businesses that received up to $150,000 from the federal Paycheck Protection Program can apply directly with the U.S. Small Business Administration for relief.