TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is advising people to stay away for the holidays after seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases in his state this fall. Murphy said holiday safety starts with the basics of social distancing, wearing a face mask and washing your hands regularly, but this holiday season also means canceling the big holiday work party or Christmas party at your house.
“The hand we’re playing is a basic hand. It’s putting these on, which I will put on. It’s keeping away from each other. It’s washing hands with soap and water. It’s taking yourself off the field for the reasons we’ve discussed. It’s getting tested. I would say especially right now is these cannot be normal holidays,” Murphy said. “There’s just no way they can be normal holidays, regardless of which ones you celebrate. It can’t be a normal Hanukkah, Advent, Kwanzaa, Christmas or New Year’s. There’s just no room for that. Which stinks, right? No one wants to hear that and I don’t blame them but that’s what it is.”