TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy in his last regularly scheduled COVID-19 briefing said New Jersey is moving from a COVID-19 pandemic to an endemic and he will sign an order today lifting the public emergency order.
Governor Murphy will officially execute another executive order that formally ends the in-school face mask requirement that expires on Monday and the longstanding COVID-19 public health emergency. The governor will keep the COVID-19 state of emergency in place for reasons connected to federal funding.
“This action ends this phase in our war against the coronavirus as we make this transition from pandemic to endemic” Governor Phil Murphy said. “We are continuing our efforts to continue vaccinating.”
Murphy said a state of emergency order will continue to allow the state to receive and distribute federal funding, comparing it to the 2002 state of emergency for Superstorm Sandy that still remains in effect.
“It will not impact your life in one small way,” Murphy said.
“Make no mistake, given the progress we have made when large-scale mitigations have passed and hopefully will never return,” Murphy said.