Phil murphy's covid-19 bar shutdown based on "fake news" and bad information bar owners say

Phil Murphy’s COVID-19 Bar Shutdown Based on “Fake News” and Bad Information Bar Owners Say

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1 min read
March 10, 2021

MANASQUAN, NJ – When New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichili cited Leggett’s Sandbar as the reason why Governor Phil Murphy was pushed to shut down bars across New Jersey, she cited several bar workers contracting COVID-19.   The part she left out was that none of those workers contracted COVID-19 through their employment at the bar.

Leggetts, who has now been defamed and accused falsely by the governor and the health commissioner issued a statement yesterday explaining what happened…and it wasn’t because bar workers were moving up and down the bar serving drinks as claimed by Murphy.

“In mid-October, several of Leggett’s employees tested positive for Covid 19, a circumstance that was traced to an external event outside of the restaurant. As a precautionary follow-up, management instructed all employees to be tested given their proximity to those who attended the earlier event,” Leggetts said.  “When a number of additional positive tests were identified, Leggett’s closed its doors in the interest of public safety. This lasted for two weeks and until every affected employee was retested and registered a negative result. As such, the restaurant has reopened for business and will honor the recently-identified governmental protocols moving forward.”

So, the claims made by Governor Phil Murphy to shut down an entire industry across the entire state were not based on facts, but simply assumptions.  Neither Murphy nor Persichili divulged that information on Monday but used a false claim that the workers were in a bar, serving alcohol, infecting each other and their customers was a flat out lie…or at minimum, intentionally misleading or misinformed.

“Please know that the health and well-being of both our clientele and staff continue to be our utmost priority and we will remain diligent in our efforts to offer a welcoming and safe environment to all who work or socialize on our premises,” the bar said.
The Murphy administration did not confirm that any patrons of Leggetts caught COVID-19, as suggested during Monday’s press conference.  Now, county and state health officials are clamming up about the claim, refusing to answer questions by the media to “give color” to the incident.

Governor Phil Murphy is not expected to reverse his closure order after these findings appear to prove those claims to be false.

Phil Stilton

Phil Stilton is the Editor and Publisher of Shore News Network, an independent digital newsroom providing original reporting on New Jersey, national news, government, public policy, public safety, courts, and community affairs.

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Under Stilton's editorial leadership, Shore News Network has grown into one of New Jersey's largest independent digital news organizations, publishing thousands of original news articles each year while providing breaking news coverage, investigative reporting, and analysis across state and local government. The publication's reporting is routinely sourced from official government agencies, public officials, court records, and firsthand documentation, with a commitment to transparency, attribution, corrections when warranted, and clearly distinguishing factual reporting from opinion.

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