Another Big Reopening Day In NJ: What You Can Do Now Amid COVID

NEW JERSEY – Friday's a day when both nightclubbers and hockey lovers can dance and celebrate – inside.

Friday marks yet another major pandemic-related reopening date in New Jersey, with restrictions surrounding workplace capacity limits, indoor gatherings and dance floors to be lifted.

Gov. Phil Murphy recently announced that, effective Friday, all indoor gathering and capacity limits will be lifted, as well as restrictions related to dance floors at bars and restaurants.

Also starting Friday, New Jersey employers will no longer be required to keep their offices staffed at a minimum level or accommodate remote work.

And, of course, people can do all of this without a mask.

In an MSNBC appearance on Friday morning, the governor noted that the state has now opened up significantly with limited restrictions as New Jersey ends its public health emergency on June 4. Read more: NJ Lawmakers Pass Bill To End COVID Public Health Emergency

“Our health numbers have consistently day to day gone in the right direction. It has allowed us to open this state backup wide,” Murphy said. “There are very few restrictions in place, frankly, and they are, for the most part, face masks when you’re on a bus, plane, train, hospital, things like that. The Jersey Shore is alive and booming. Our lakes, our main streets, these things are getting back to normal. God knows we need it.”

Here's where certain areas of life in New Jersey have already opened up, and what is reopening on Friday:

Dining, commercial and private gatherings

General indoor gathering capacities will be lifted Friday, and dance floors at summer hotspots will return to action as New Jersey moves to its closest representation of normality yet.

While the general outdoor gathering limit was lifted on May 19th, the indoor gathering limit for political gatherings, weddings, funerals, memorial services, performance, and other catered and commercial events – which was 250 people – was removed starting Friday.

The cap on general indoor gatherings – which was capped at 50 people – was also removed on Friday.

"So if the [New Jersey] Devils had a game on June 4, could they sell out? The answer is yes," Murphy said.

Outdoor venues – including those that can accommodate over 1,000 people, such as MetLife Stadium and minor league baseball parks – have already reopened to full capacity.

Hotspots like Jenkinson's and others also appeared to be set for the big change this past weekend as crowds jammed into the attraction's nightclub in Point Pleasant Beach.

Dance floors reopened at private catered events (including weddings and school proms) with mask-wearing and social distancing in place last month.

The restrictions on self-service food, such as buffets, at restaurants, have been lifted since May 7, as well as the prohibition on indoor bar-side seating.

Capacity limits at restaurants, stores, offices, theaters, houses of worship, pools, hair salons, gyms and amusement parks had already been lifted as of May 19.

People have been permitted to enter restaurants, stores and other indoor spaces in New Jersey without face coverings since May 28, which also saw the lift of the 6-foot social distancing requirement in all indoor and outdoor settings, including in:

• Retail stores
• Personal care services
• Gyms
• Recreational and entertainment businesses
• Casinos
• Religious services
• Political activities
• Weddings
• Funerals
• Memorial services
• Commercial gatherings
• Catered events
• Sports competitions
• Performances

Businesses can continue to require social distancing should they choose.

Spaces where masks will continue to be required include health care and long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, public transit (airplanes, buses, trains), transit hubs (airports, bus and train stations), public-facing state offices such as Motor Vehicle Commission agencies, and warehousing and manufacturing facilities.

The mandate also doesn’t extend to youth summer camps, preschools, elementary schools and secondary schools (including charter and renaissance schools).

"This is for a simple reason: Children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated, and while we're making very good progress with the 12-to-15-year cohort, they've only been eligible … for less than two weeks. For these younger populations, we're just not there yet," the governor said.

Workplaces and child care

New Jersey employers will no longer be required to keep their offices staffed at a minimum level or accommodate remote work now that the state continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, child care limits are being returned to their pre-pandemic levels, giving parents who are being called back to office work a place for their children to go, Murphy said

The executive order relaxing workplace rules took effect Friday.

Under the order, employers will be able to allow employees who can verify they are vaccinated to forgo masks in the office. The goal is to give private employers more flexibility as they return to more normal business operations, Murphy said.

State employees will continue to be required to mask up, Murphy said. Read more: NJ Changes Workplace, Child Care Rules Amid COVID

Travel

Domestic travel is allowed for fully vaccinated individuals, as is international travel, according to the CDC.

In both cases, residents are not required to receive tests before and after travel. However, if you are only partially vaccinated, the CDC advises that you should not travel at all.

In the Garden State, fully vaccinated people no longer need to quarantine or test negative for domestic travel. Self-quarantines remain voluntary, but officials expect compliance.

Those who are fully vaccinated also don't need to get tested before departing unless their destination requires it, the CDC says. But they still need to show a negative test result or documentation of COVID-19 recovery before boarding an international flight to the United States.

"If your goal is international travel, recognize that the COVID reality in other nations is much different than here, and (please) adhere to the travel guidance and advisories posted by the U.S. Department of State," Murphy said.

Schools

While the governor has remained adamant about students keeping their masks on at school in the fall, Murphy reversed course this week, noting that "there is a chance" students may go maskless in September as the state continues to move beyond the coronavirus pandemic.

"As of this moment in time, given vaccinations have only just begun for the 12- to 15-year-olds, and we don't have an authorized vaccine for the under 12 yet, my guess is" that students will have to wear masks, Murphy said.

"Having said that, we put our guidance out in June of last year for what reopening would look like, and we tweaked it a number of times between June and September. Three months from now might as well be five lifetimes in a pandemic, so the answer is, absolutely, our minds are open."

In September, full-remote learning will no longer be an option. It was this kind of rapid progress Murphy referenced when saying the door was still open for maskless students - but how quickly students get vaccinated will play a role.

Over 4.2 million people in New Jersey are fully vaccinated, while another 4.8 million people have been partially vaccinated. The Garden State needs a total of 4.7 million fully vaccinated by the end of June to meet its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of adults.

Still looking to get vaccinated? Find a vaccine near you at covid19.nj.gov/finder.