Gov. Murphy: 'Broader Actions' Coming To Stop NJ COVID-19 Spread

NEW JERSEY — Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Friday that New Jersey will take "broader actions" to quell the recent sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the Garden State.

Murphy said New Jersey will have to consider strong steps now that the state had its third consecutive day of reporting 2,000 or more cases — the first time that's happened since May 1-3.

"Another tough day," Murphy said at the beginning of a news conference that dealt with the state's pending legalization of marijuana.

After months of new daily cases hovering around 300, and hospitalizations also in the low hundreds, New Jersey had 2,199 new cases Friday. There are also 1,300 people hospitalized, and several counties each had 200 new cases.

Deaths have also ticked up slightly. After falling to single digits — with one fatality reported Oct. 12 — New Jersey reported 13 more deaths Friday.

Murphy once again did not specify what actions he may take, but he did say New Jersey will strike a "balance" between wide-ranging, sweeping steps and "scalpel-like" actions.

"We're working on making sure that we have the right balance between strategic, scalpel-like actions and some broader actions we almost certainly will take sooner or later," Murphy said.

Murphy signaled that he may not take broad actions regarding schools, despite Clifton Public Schools' announcement that it will transition to remote learning Monday after the city said it has 25 new cases. The Clifton School District announced that 12 students and four employees tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, and many others have had to quarantine.

"We deal with these districts one district at a time," Murphy said. "They consult with us every step of the way when they make decisions like that."

Murphy said New Jersey continues to have low numbers of school-related coronavirus cases, noting there have been at least 30 outbreaks in more than 500 districts.

"That's well within any expectation of where we expected to be," he said.

But Murphy said New Jersey will have to take tough steps overall.

"This virus has not gone away as we predicted it would," he said. "We're still in the fight, and we've got to fight back against COVID fatigue. We've got to do everything in our power to fight back against that."

Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said "hot spot" teams have been deployed to nine counties as more than 6,000 new cases were tallied over the last three days "This virus has not taken a break, and we cannot either," she said.

Murphy has been resistant to reversing reopening decisions, especially since he got backlash when he canceled plans to reopen indoor dining in early July. He later reopened it at 25 percent capacity in early September.

But Murphy has repeatedly expressed concern over the much-higher risks associated with indoor activities versus outdoor, where the virus is one-nineteenth 1/19 less contagious.

When cases have spiked in recent months, the governor has taken steps to restrict the capacity of indoor and outdoor gatherings.

He also issued a warning about Thanksgiving, urging people not to hold family gatherings that could cause the virus to spread.

Murphy made his remarks at the 40-second mark:

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