Indoor Dining at New Jersey Restaurants Will No Longer Resume Thursday

Over the past two weeks, Gov. Phil Murphy warned that the state was “losing ground” when it came to a declining number of new cases and hospitalizations. He compared New Jersey’s numbers with other states and he said that New Jersey has slipped several places since mid-June.

Gov. Murphy said the state’s overall rate of transmission remains low but has crept up since mid-June as well. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, several counties including Camden, Gloucester, Burlington and Cape May have reported rising positivity rates.

Because of this, New Jersey has postponed the reopening of indoor dining indefinitely. He said in his press conference on Monday, “We’ve always said that we would not hesitate to hit pause if needed to safeguard public health. This is one of those times.” Indoor dining was scheduled to resume on Thursday.

Twelve other states have paused reopening plans due to a sudden surge in new Coronavirus cases. Murphy has not yet clarified how casinos will reopen without indoor dining or sales of alcohol.

Some casinos will remain closed due to Murphy’s indoor dining decisions, while others have said their drink sales will be limited to bottled water instead of soda.

But don't worry, outdoor dining is still very much allowed. So if you plan on eating out this fourth of July weekend, I suggest you get there early.