TRENTON, N.J. – Governor Phil Murphy told reporters that “all options are on the table” including “draconian ones” at a Friday event, raising the possibility of a new statewide COVID-19 shutdown.
Murphy also threatened to ban all indoor dining “if we were to take a step back” in light of daily positive cases eclipsing the 2,000 mark for the first time since early May. Strangely, the Governor has also said more than one time in recent days that there is no causal link between new cases and existing indoor dining.
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No one from the Murphy Administration has offered an explanation as to why indoor dining should be shuttered if it isn’t to blame for new cases.
Murphy has arepeatedly rejected bipartisan calls to expand indoor dining capacity from 25% to 50%, and he recently vetoed a bill to reimburse restaurants after he abruptly reversed course in the summer and delayed the restart of indoor dining.
Restaurant groups have repeatedly warned that many eateries won’t survive the winter at anything less than 50% capacity.