NJ stay at home order continued indefinitely
NEW JERSEY - There is no end in sight for the stay-at-home order in New Jersey. It comes as the coronavirus outbreak is now blamed for the deaths of more than 6,000 people across the state.
The state-at-home order has been in place across New Jersey since March 21, 2020.
On Monday afternoon, Gov. Phil Murphy explained the steps that he says need to take place to reopen the state.
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"To move out from under this order we will need to see, at least, a sustained reduction in the number of new positive COVID-19 test results, new COVID-19 hospitalizations, and other metrics," Murphy said.
He said that there needed to be a 14-day trend of reduced cases before any reopening could take place.
Tristate New York-area plans
The governors of New Jersey and New York discussed some parameters for reopening the region's economies and communities. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said his stay-at-home order will remain in place for now. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said some parts of the state will be able to reopen sooner than others.
The roadmap he announced included six principals called The Road Back.
1. Sustained reductions in new cases
2. Expanded testing and speedier results
3. Implementing robust contact tracing
4. Securing safe places for people who are diagnosed in the future can isolate
Under expanded testing, Murphy said that the rate of testing would need to at least double in the state. He said that would not happen before the end of May.
He said after the first four steps are met the state could move on to the final steps.
5. Responsibly restart the economy
6. Ensuring resiliency in the future
"We only want to have to do this once," Murphy said.
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"This is weeks, I'm not sure it's months," Murphy said later in the news conference. "I don't want folks to lose their hope."
He then said that a decision on what would happen with schools would not be announced until May 15th.
Looking forward to the summer, Murphy said he could not see a normal beach season at the Jersey shore. He expects there to be social distancing at the beach through the summer.