Murphy says meeting held to discuss future lockdowns, gathering restrictions

Murphy says meeting held to discuss future lockdowns, gathering restrictions

August 23, 2021

As New Jersey continues seeing high numbers of new COVID-19 infections due to the Delta variant among both the fully vaccinated and unvaccinated, Governor Phil Murphy today said he has held discussions to plan future lockdown and gathering restriction scenarios.

When asked when and if he will implement new capacity restrictions for New Jersey residents and business, Murphy said there’s nothing to report today, but he is actively planning for such a scenario.

“No more restrictions that we’re making news with, but we keep everything on the table,” Murphy said. “Judy and I and some colleagues were on a call on Saturday looking at modeling and where this is heading and some of those scenarios aren’t terribly pretty.”

Murphy said all of the scenarios discussed by his team showed things getting worse than they are now. The governor also hinted that he could soon end up implementing vaccination segregation similar to New York City where residents would need to show proof of vaccination before entering public and private spaces.

“In all of those scenarios things get worse before they get better,” he said. “We have to leave all options on the table and remind folks that if you’re indoors and you’re not certain of the vaccine status of the people you’re with, you wear a mask.”

Phil Stilton

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