In an interview on CNN today, Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey will probably pause its reopening plans as Covid-19 cases begin to rise again in the state.
Indoor capacity for restaurants and other businesses is currently limited to 50%.
CNBC, which reported the story, noted that, as of Sunday, the state’s seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases has increased to just over 4,000 per day — a more than 10% jump from the previous week, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. CNBC also reported that New Jersey leads the U.S. in new cases per capita over the past week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New COVID cases in Jersey City have been ticking up with the seven day average now at 133. That compares with the 14 and 30 day averages of 126 and 115 respectively.
Murphy was asked if the state would “hold off” on reopening plans for a week or two. He responded that, “I think what you’ll see going forward is we will do that.”
Murphy expressed optimism, however, that the situation would improve as the weather gets warmer and more people in the state get vaccinated.
Cases are rising in other states too as they reopen. Health officials worry that that could cause a new surge as highly contagious variants spread across the nation.
In New Jersey, officials have identified 160 cases of the U.K. B.1.1.7 variant, one case of the South African B.1.351 strain and two cases of the Brazilian P.1 variant, according to the CDC.
In a press conference today, Murphy lauded the state’s success in administering vaccinations but warned residents who have been vaccinated to continue social distancing saying, “the vaccine doesn’t make you bulletproof.”
So far 123,123 people in Hudson County have received at least one vaccination dose. For the state, that number is 2,333,719.