Gov. Murphy: NJ COVID Cases Could Hit 10K A Day, Reach Daily High

NEW JERSEY — Gov. Phil Murphy says New Jersey's new coronavirus cases could rise to 8,000 to 10,000 a day — doubling the Garden State's highest totals ever — if people don't take personal responsibility to fight the disease.

Murphy revealed the numbers as New Jersey once again hit its highest number of new daily cases ever on Saturday: 4,679. Thirty-four more deaths were confirmed.

Murphy said personal responsibility will be especially important on Thanksgiving now that the state has reduced the limits on indoor gatherings from 25 to 10 people, and will reduce the size of outdoor gatherings from 500 to 150 people beginning Monday. Read more: Gov. Murphy: NJ To Lower Gathering Limits Amid Coronavirus Spikes

Murphy told CNN on Thursday that New Jersey is doing much more testing than it did when the outbreak first hit during the spring, reaching as many as 75,000 a day. But he says people are also fighting coronavirus "fatigue" and "letting their guard down" behind closed doors.

"Our plea is do the right thing when you're behind closed doors," Murphy said during a Wednesday news conference. "Don't assume that just because you're in a private home, you shouldn't social distance."

The governor said police will not go door to door to enforce capacity limits on Thanksgiving, but the state will take action if it gets reports of gatherings that are too large.

"There's no amount of law enforcement that can get behind private doors to enforce compliance," Murphy said. "At the end of the day, it's on our shoulders."

Murphy also pleaded with colleges and students to get tested before they come home for Thanksgiving. Read more: NJ To College Students: Test For COVID Before Thanksgiving

Citing predictive models that the state relies on, Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said New Jersey could get as many as 8,000 to 10,000 cases a day by December and January "if we did nothing."

"We could be right back to March and April," she said, referring to the period when the coronavirus outbreak first hit New Jersey and fatalities exceeded 300 to 400 a day.

Persichilli said New Jersey could bend the rising curve of cases if people upheld all safeguards — such as social distancing and masks — at least 50 percent of the time.

Noting that New Jersey successfully bent the curve during the summer when daily cases dipped below 200, Persichilli said residents typically uphold safeguards only 31 percent of the time.

But the colder weather forcing people inside, where the disease spreads much more easily, should compel people to take more personal responsibility, she said.

Murphy said reversing reopenings or enforcing additional shutdowns "all remain on the table" if New Jersey doesn't take personal responsibility to beat the virus.

The governor indicated, however, that he's inclined to leave schools alone. On Wednesday, Murphy told CNN that the Garden State's schools are not in danger of a statewide shutdown.

Speaking on CNN's "The Situation Room," Murphy told Wolf Blitzer the decision by New York City to shutter its schools is not something New Jersey will follow, even as the state had 4,063 new cases and 2,446 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday. Read more: Murphy: NJ Not Considering Closing Its Schools Amid COVID Spike

New Jersey also hit its highest daily case totals ever over the weekend, topping 4,500 on Sunday. Read more: NJ Hits Highest COVID-19 Daily Case Totals As Key Metrics Jump

Positivity rates in New Jersey have "exploded" to more than 10 percent and hospitalizations have tripled over the past two months, Murphy noted, though they're nowhere near where they were in April when they topped 8,000.

State officials say the rates of transmission are low in schools, however, because people take "personal responsibility."

"They save lives by their own personality responsibility," Persichilli said. "We do that again, we won't reach March and April."

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