Coronavirus New Jersey: Gov. Murphy Believes State 'Several Weeks Away' From First Steps To Reopen
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) -- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will reveal his plan to reopen the state's economy on Monday afternoon. Murphy made it clear, however, on Sunday that any lifting of social distancing orders is "several weeks away."
"The fatalities continue to be significant each and every day," Murphy said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
State health officials reported 75 additional deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday. Close to 110,000 people in New Jersey have been diagnosed with the virus, but there is some encouraging news.
Fewer people are in the hospital and the governor says ICU and ventilator use is down too.
"Those are good signs, but we're not out of the woods yet," Murphy said. "I think we're several weeks away. The mandate to stay at home and stay away from each other is still very much in effect until we can break the back of this curve."
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Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled his color-coded plan to reopen the economy.
"We're currently obviously in the red phase statewide," Wolf said. "As regions hit benchmarks to show that they're ready, they'll move to the yellow phase."
That would mean loosening up certain restrictions and allow more businesses to open. It could begin as soon as May 8 in northwestern and northcentral Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia will likely lag weeks behind, though, because the hallmark of Wolf's plan is reopening region-by-region.
Murphy would not commit to New Jersey following that model on Sunday's "Meet the Press" on NBC.
"So while we haven't made that decision, we have as a health care matter, this is a month of six weeks ago, separated the state and the regions," Murphy said. "North, central and south. That has proven to be effective. We just opened up with the Army Corps a field medical station in Atlantic City, in the south, last week.
"So I suspect while we haven't made a decision on that, we're gonna move as one state, recognizing you've got density issues in the north that you just don't have in the south."
But according to a map that Murphy tweeted showing how quickly COVID-19 is spreading in the Garden State, the rate is doubling in South Jersey faster than North Jersey.
On Friday, Murphy said he would be signing an order that would allow renters to use their security deposits to pay their rents, "whether that be to make up for a shortfall or to pay it in full."
New Jersey also launched a new website, designed to be a point of reference for both tenants and landlords as to their rights and responsibilities.
CBS3's Joe Holden contributed to this report.
