New Jersey Governor Weighing Indoor Capacity Limits as Virus Surges

(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he is considering indoor capacity limits to help control a second wave of the novel coronavirus.

Murphy, during an interview on MSNBC-TV, didn’t specify whether the restrictions would be for public or private events. Under current rules, general indoor gatherings already are limited to 25 people or 25% of a room’s capacity, while weddings, funerals and religious and political activities are limited to 150 people or 25%.

In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo this week ordered private gatherings to be limited to 10 people as that state’s positivity rate approaches 3%, from less than 1% in September. New Jersey’s positivity has reached 12%.

“Could we take more steps? Absolutely,” Murphy said Thursday. “Indoor gathering limits is something we’re looking at right now.”

Murphy this week ordered restaurants to stop indoor service at 10 p.m. daily, and an end to bar seating, starting today. The state reported 18 deaths and its third straight day of more than 3,000 new cases. To date, New Jersey has had 266,986 cases of Covid-19 and 14,694 lab-confirmed fatalities.

At a virus press briefing, the typically mild-mannered Murphy bristled when asked by a reporter for his response to people complaining about wearing masks.

“You know what’s really uncomfortable and annoying? When you die,” Murphy said. “I speak to families almost every single day -- some days, multiple families -- who’ve lost a loved one. I’d love someone who’s jerking around by not wearing a mask, and making it political, to speak to some of these families I speak to.”

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