State Travel Advisory Change: All Non-essential Travel Discouraged

By Anthony Birritteri, Editor-in-Chief On Dec 2, 2020

At his COVID-19 press briefing today, Gov. Phil Murphy announced the state is formally changing its travel advisory. All non-essential out-of-state travel is discouraged, and residents and visitors coming into New Jersey, with limited exceptions, should observe a 14-day self-quarantine.

Essential travel is excluded from the new advisory. The governor said this includes those commuting to work or seeking medical treatment. Other exceptions include front-line healthcare workers, members of law enforcement, and active-duty military personnel traveling to New Jersey on orders or directives.

The advisory is given at a time when COVID-19 numbers continue to rise in the state.

The governor reported 4,350 new COVID-19 cases today for a total of 346,206 since the start of the pandemic. The transmission rate is 1.08 (the lowest since Sept. 16), while the positivity rate for PCR tests from this past Saturday was 13.68%.

There were 3,287 hospitalizations across New Jersey, including 599 patients in ICU and 354 who required ventilators. “The good news is 367 persons were discharged yesterday, but another 507 were admitted,” Murphy said.

Additionally, there are now 15,309 confirmed and 1,836 probable COVID-19 deaths in the state.

The governor also pointed out Portobello, an Oakland, Bergen County restaurant that had large outdoor crowds (with many people not wearing masks) last Wednesday and Saturday night. The restaurant owner was cited for noncompliance and its outdoor dining permit was revoked for 30 days.

Murphy commented, “Across the state, the overwhelming number of restaurant owners are playing by the rules and doing the right thing … to protect their employees and patrons from the virus.

“However, there are restaurant owners who are outliers, who think the rules apply to others and not to them … who do not support the value of their communities. They are giving the good and hard-working restaurateurs, of which there are thousands across the state, a black eye,” Murphy said.

He added that he, his wife, and children make it a point to visit restaurants as often as they can to show their support. “We have among the best restaurants anywhere in America,” Murphy said. “These neighborhood restaurants are the backbone of their local economies. We will continue to support them any way we can – individually and as a state – but we will not tolerate knucklehead behavior that puts people at risk.”

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