Auto, Motorcycle Dealerships and Bicycle Shops Reopening for In-Person Sales

By George N. Saliba, Managing Editor On May 19, 2020

Automobile dealerships, motorcycle dealerships and bicycle shops will be permitted to reopen for in-person sales at 6 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday, May 20) via an administrative order, Gov. Phil Murphy said at today’s state press conference. During the state’s shutdown, these establishments had been limited to bicycle repairs and automobile repairs – as well as remote automobile sales.

“We know [in-person sales] is an important step for dealerships, and for people who need access to transportation, and it is unquestionably another step forward on our ‘Road Back,’” Murphy said at the conference.

Underscoring the importance of social distancing against the backdrop of improving public health metrics, Murphy added, “… it is a time for us to double down. The more these numbers drop, the more confidence we will have that we are ready to move from Stage 1 to Stage 2 of restart, and we can begin planning for more business reopenings.”

He also said, “We purposely have not married ourselves to dates, because we do not want to give any false hope. We purposely, however, have married ourselves to the data, so when we make an announcement, we know it can stick.”

Public Health Update

Murphy specifically announced that hospitalizations decreased to 3,481 and patients in intensive care decreased to 977; there were 789 patients on ventilators last night.

And with elective and non-urgent medical procedures set to restart on Tuesday, May 26, Murphy said the state released binding guidance surrounding safety protocols for all involved parties.

Separately, the state’s 18,000 licensed pharmacists at approximately 2,200 locations will be permitted to offer COVID-19 tests to customers without a prescription, and without pharmacists entering into specific collaborative practice agreements with physicians, it was announced at today’s press conference. Complete details may be found here.

CVS is slated to offer self-swab COVID-19 tests at 50 locations by the end of this month, Murphy said. State leaders have repeatedly said that overall expanded testing capabilities are a critical component for the economy’s reopening.

A Vaccine?

And with the world’s eyes focused on biotechnology company Moderna’s promising early results with a coronavirus vaccine, Murphy said he participated in a unrelated videoconference call yesterday with the White House, with the National Institutes of Health’s Dr. Anthony Fauci in the room, on the other end of the call.

“He’s usually … expressing big words of caution, and I felt his comments about the early returns on the vaccine, which have been reported yesterday, were actually pretty upbeat, relative to his normal demeanor,” Murphy said. “That, to me, was a big takeaway.”

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