Gov. Murphy: NJ Won't Follow NY And Close Indoor Dining – Yet

NEW JERSEY - While Pennsylvania and New York are closing down their indoor dining through the new year, Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey will not be following suit - yet.

"We'll stick with what we got," Murphy said at Friday's coronavirus briefing, "as far as indoor dining is concerned.

Murphy noted there is potential for unintended consequences, like people coming across the Delaware and the Hudson rivers and indulge in Garden State indoor dining.

"We just have to watch that very closely. That was a big, big risk in the spring," Murphy said. "But that is something we need to watch, clearly."

In responding to questions about why he is out of lockstep with New Jersey's neighbors, Murphy said the states' leaders still communicate consistently and often coordinate with each other.

Although New Jersey is the densest state in the nation, places like New York, where there is one big metropolis, stand apart from the Garden State, Murphy said.

"That we don't have. We have 565 communities," Murphy said. "We're on top of each other. That's for sure. But our largest city has 300,000 in a state of 9 million. That is a very different dynamic."

Murphy said for restrictions to come, New Jersey would have to cross the "third rail" which is the healthcare system.

"We are at 3,500 beds and change right now. Our high on April 14 was 8,270 COVID," Murphy said noting that, at that time, there was no elective surgery and steps like could be taken again to protect the healthcare system from being overrun.

Murphy indicated earlier in the week that New Jersey could reach the levels it hit during the spring, pointing to models that showed the Garden State could once again have more than 8,000 hospitalizations – if the state doesn't do enough to protect itself. Read more: Gov. Murphy Now Says NJ Daily COVID Cases Could Double To 12K

"And if we come anywhere close to that, we will take significant action," he said.

Murphy said that the current stats don't mean that people aren't getting sick, going to the hospital, going to the ICU or dying. It just means the numbers don't merit taking action yet.

"Everything stays on the table, but we're comfortable where we are right now," Murphy said.

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