According to Monmouth University Polling Institute, 63% would support their state re-instituting a face covering mandate, up from 52% in July.

The governor sided with an oft-repeated mantra that outdoor settings are mostly safe for patrons to not be masked.

Gov. Phil Murphy ensures the Garden State will be prepared whenever federal authorization is handed down regarding a third dose.

The Newark Emergency Small Business Grant Fund was created in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic to support the city's impacted enterprises. The program's latest round, its fourth, offers up to $15,000 for eligible companies.

Under the White House policy, part of a six-point plan to control the pandemic, companies would be required to provide paid sick time to recover from side effects of the COVID-19 shot, and employees that do not get inoculated would face weekly testing.

The Garden State's employment level declined 6.3% since 2019, according to Pew Charitable Trusts, placing it ahead of only Rhode Island, California, Hawaii and Nevada.

With full federal approval of one of the three COVID-19 vaccines being used across the nation, state leaders and public health officials are optimistic that more people will finally get the shot after months of holding out. And businesses are now entering into previously difficult terrain and are requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for their workers, and even in some cases for their customers and guests.

The BD Veritor is an over-the-counter, rapid antigen diagnostic that uses computer vision technology in a smartphone to interpret and provide a digital display of testing results without a prescription, laboratory or long wait.

Metrics like new daily cases, the positivity rate among tests, fatalities and the rate of transmission - or how fast the virus spreads - have also climbed over the summer as the delta variant drives surges of the virus among those in the state who are not vaccinated.

Officials estimate the initiative has enabled nonprofits to use the previous $14 million of grants to buy over 3.5 million meals from more than 350 pandemic-hit restaurants across the state during some of the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic for its neediest residents.

By all accounts, 2020 was chaotic and dramatically different than any year in recent memory. As spending habits changed with New Jerseyans staying home and more aware of public health, this year's Top 250 Privately Held Businesses list shows the biggest movers and shakers during the height of the pandemic.

Restaurateurs and caterers around the state admit to feeling a sense of anxiety about the effects of the delta variant on their businesses, as delays in restoring supply chains and labor shortages continue to plague the industry and hinder its full recovery.