UPDATES What Can Reopen This Week In Summit

SUMMIT, NJ — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy last week announced that playgrounds and amusement parks can reopen on Thursday. Malls, such as Bergen County's Paramus Park Mall and the Short Hills Mall, can open Monday (check the mall websites to be sure of hours and dates).

While states like Texas and Florida have had to re-close certain businesses and facilities in the last week due to record-topping coronavirus spikes — the governor of Texas ordered all bars to close there on Friday — the numbers are still declining in New Jersey, for now.

On Friday, Gov. Murphy announced 524 additional coronavirus cases and 44 more deaths in the previous 24 hours, bringing the totals statewide to 170,584 cases and 13,060 confirmed deaths.

The virus is clearly still spreading, but new cases have declined steadily since the state's most deadly day, April 30, when 460 New Jerseyans had been lost to the virus in 24 hours, or one person every three minutes.

Murphy has said that facilities and businesses in the state must reopen carefully, in phases, to prevent spikes like in other states that reopened earlier.

Indoor dining originally was to be allowed to open at 25 percent capacity, but Gov. Phil Murphy walked back that allowance on Monday, saying crowded bar/restaurants were helping spread the virus. Thus, indoor dining is postponed.

Some restaurateurs in North Jersey said last week that they were not ready to open indoors just yet.

But local business owners and members of business organizations said Friday that they were excited for other reopenings.

Local businesses respond

Last week, salons were allowed to reopen, but not all did so on the first day. For instance, Drybar blow-dry bars in Summit and Hoboken were set to open this past weekend.

"We missed our community of clients and staff," said Chief Retail Officer Courtney Gruber, "but we're excited to be reopening our doors this week. We're taking very strict precautions, having developed new shop protocols with guidance from the CDC and healthcare professionals. These new protocols include temperature checks, six feet between washing and drying stations, masks required to be worn by all clients and staff."

Bob Zuckerman, who is president of Downtown New Jersey and the executive director of Downtown Westfield, said, “We are thrilled to see our businesses opening up again. We handled COVID-19 the right way here in New Jersey by using data and science to drive our decision-making. While it’s been a rough few months for many of our businesses, we couldn’t be happier that most of them are getting back on their feet, and we will continue to do everything we can to help them survive and thrive.”

What about the malls?

Paramus Park Mall in Paramus said it will reopen Monday.

The Short Hills Mall said it will open starting Monday, within guidelines.

The Simon company has been posting updates on its mall websites, like this one for Newport Centre in Jersey City, about the stores at the mall reopening. Check the website for updates.

Some malls in New Jersey have said that children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Other updates

To read about Summit business initiatives and outdoor dining, click here.

For other recent coronavirus updates and statistics in Summit, click here.

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