New Jersey Shore Will Be Open for Memorial Day, Murphy Says

(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey beaches will be open for the Memorial Day weekend, with social-distance guidelines in place, Governor Phil Murphy said.

Each beach must set capacity limits, and shore counties are collaborating in the plan for openings, Murphy said at a news briefing.

Organized games, fireworks, concerts won’t be allowed, but beachside pavilions, changing areas and restrooms will be open, Murphy said. He also ordered reopening of restrooms at parks, where visitors in recent days have left behind urine in bottles.

Statewide, amusement parks, playgrounds and visitor centers must remain closed “for the time being,” Murphy said. He was “aggressively reviewing” public-pool protocols, he said.

The governor credited New Jerseyans’ social distancing for positive numbers: Since the mid-April peak, hospitalizations over the past 24 hours were down 66%; intensive-care patients, 39%; and patients on ventilators, 44%. “These trends are your doing,” he said.

The fiscal trends are less encouraging. New Jersey expects a $10.1 billion budget shortfall through fiscal 2021, and potentially higher if a second wave of infections hit in coming months, as some scientists have predicted. In a statement to bondholders Wednesday, state Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio said the state will have to borrow from the U.S. Federal Reserve and other sources, adjust revenue and budget estimates and press the federal government for more cash assistance.

Budget revenue for the current fiscal year is expected to fall $2.75 billion short of the $36.7 billion projected. Forecast revenue of $33.8 billion for fiscal 2021 will be off by $7.34 billion, or about 18%.

The state is taking steps toward reopening, with a May 18 resumption of non-essential construction work and the start of curbside non-essential retail order pick-ups.

Connecticut had 12 new cases per 100,000 people, one more than New Jersey, for the highest such figure among the largest U.S. states. But New Jersey continued to lead those states, including Texas and California, for hospitalizations and deaths.

New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said the state was investigating 17 suspected cases of Kawasaki disease, a rare and potentially fatal inflammatory childhood condition. The cases, in nine of 21 counties, affected patients ages 2-18, she said. It’s not certain whether they had a coronavirus link, she said.

In New York, more than 100 children had similar conditions, with 60% testing positive for coronavirus and 40% for its antibodies, according Governor Andrew Cuomo. Those with the inflammatory disease don’t have typical coronavirus symptoms, he said. Reports of Kawasaki disease have surfaced in at least 15 U.S. states and five European countries, he said.

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