GOV. MURPHY PRESS CONFERENCE – Warns of possible restrictions again

July 31

Today’s report of 699 new cases, which is the largest daily increase since June 5, has set off alarms for the governor. “We are standing at a very dangerous place. The only way to silence the alarms is for everyone to take this seriously.” He urged everyone to wear masks and specifically said to not have house parties and “overstuff boats”. He reminded that indoor capacity is 100 OR 25% capacity, so if your normal capacity is 100, you would only be allowed 25 people inside. He put everyone on notice, stating that he can order this number lowered if necessary. “We will not tolerate this devil-may-care nonchalant attitude any longer.” When asked what the red line was in the state metric system before tightening restrictions, Murphy said, “We’re there. We better have a good weekend.” “We can do this. We’re New Jersey. We’ve never backed down from a fight and we’ve never lost. We always punch above our weight. We always get there unlike any American state. We cannot let our hair down. We’re not out of the woods. This is not past us. We’ve seen real evidence of that.”

Lakeside Dinner was closed today after being served with a final health order violation. The restaurant had been cited four times before for indoor dining.

No hospital deaths were reported in the prior 24 hours ending at 10 p.m. last night. This was the first time this has happened since March 10.

Department of Health Commissioner Judy Perschilli reported that the CDC has released information stating that those with mild COVID illnesses might take weeks to recover. One third are not back to normal after 2 to 3 weeks. Those recovering suffer from fatigue and difficulty breathing for months afterwards. Murphy described these people as “long haulers”. Reports also say the virus can damage the heart. “We’re learning something new all the time.”

Despite the large number of cases today, NJ is still one of the states with the lowest number of cases per capita, and one five states with the lowest daily percent positivity.

Today’s statewide spot positivity was 2.15%. In North Jersey 1.82%, Central Jersey 2.00%, South Jersey 3.01%.

Murphy criticized Senator Mitch McConnell for sending the Senate home for a long weekend without passing a new unemployment package. “This is the ultimate act of irresponsible behavior and dereliction of duty, Sen. McConnell. Please get back to Washington and get this done. Families across our state, indeed across the nation, families are literally on economic meltdowns on your watch and this is not the time to take a weekend, never mind a long weekend off. It’s despicable.”

The census will end a month early on Sept. 30. Murphy urged everyone that has not responded to visit 2020census.gov to fill out their census. NJ ranks 21^st in the country in responding states.

So far there have been no positives cases resulting from the Jackson house part from last weekend that had 700 guests and took police hours to break up, but they are expecting some.

School opening – Murphy said they are using flexibility going forward with making decisions but “normalcy is not within our grasp”. He warned not to expect a normal school year.