This afternoon Governor Phil Murphy visited Atlantic City to sign A5444, makes $35 million in federal funds available to EDA to support food and beverage establishments in need, into law. He was joined by the sponsor of the bill, Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo, Atlantic City Mayor, Marty Small, Sr., Bourre owner, Pat Fasano, and the new President of the NJ Restaurant and Hospitality Association, Dana Lancellotti.
There were 3,523 additional COVID-19 cases in NJ, bringing the statewide total to 831,260. There were 43 deaths, bringing the statewide total to 22,253. The rate of transmission is at 1.01. As of today, over 5,000,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with over 2,000,000 fully vaccinated individuals in NJ.
On Monday, Governor Murphy announced that all NJ residents 16 and older will be eligible for a vaccine starting on Monday, April 19th. The following is an updated list of NJ residents eligible to make appointments for a COVID-19 vaccination as of April 5th.
- All residents ages 55+
- Individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities ages 16 +
- Higher education educators and staff
- Librarians and library staff
- Retail financial sector
- Laundry service workers
- Building and home services workers
- Communications infrastructure and IT workers
- Utilities workers
- Sanitation workers
- Members of the media
The NJ Department of Health updated travel guidelines to reflect new recommendations from the CDC. Fully vaccinated individuals who travel domestically are no longer required to self-quarantine after or before their trip, or to get tested before or after travel. Vaccinated NJ residents who travel abroad will still be advised to get tested and self-quarantine upon their return.
The Governor also provided an update on school re-openings in NJ. Below is an outline of how schools are providing instruction:
- 156 open for all in-person instruction
- 495 open for hybrid instruction
- 42 combination of in-person, hybrid, or all-remote learning across buildings
- 118 all-remote learning
As of Wednesday, NJ is at 44% of its goal for a total of 4.7 million fully vaccinated residents. Please see the vaccine tracker on the NJ COVID-19 Information Hub.
The Governor reviewed the COVID low, moderate, and high scenario graphs which predict projected cases, deaths, and hospitalization totals. The low and moderate scenarios would see an increase of cases, deaths, and hospitalization by mid April; the high impact scenario would see a peak in May which would elevate those statistics until June and July. Presently, the State is likely to encounter the low to moderate scenario in the coming months.
