New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced Tuesday that he is lifting the state’s stay-at-home order put in place more than two months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor said during his daily press conference that he was signing an executive order that would end the stay-at-home order effective immediately. He pointed to research he said showed that such orders across the country saved “hundreds if not thousands” of lives.
“We would not be at this point today had we not taken this step,” he said.
But the governor cautioned New Jersey residents to continue wearing face coverings and practicing social distancing in public.
“We cannot move through stage two and into stage three and beyond unless we continue to see the numbers trending downward,” he said. “We cannot become complacent or irresponsible.”
Murphy said he hopes businesses will continue to allow people to work from home, saying that if employees do return to offices, social distancing practices must be implemented.
The stay-at-home order had instructed people to avoid leaving their homes unless they were buying essential items or unless they were essential workers. When Murphy signed the order, New Jersey had slightly more than 1,300 confirmed cases and fewer than 20 deaths.
As of Tuesday, New Jersey has more than 164,000 confirmed cases and at least 12,303 deaths, according to the state health department.
Murphy also announced that he was increasing the number of people allowed to gather in both indoor and outdoor locations.
For indoors, either 25 percent of the venue’s occupancy or 50 people, whichever is lower, are allowed to congregate. For outdoors, 100 people can gather, an increase from 25 people.
The governor’s announcements come as the numbers of hospitalizations, patients in intensive care units and patients on ventilators continue to decrease.
But Murphy noted that New Jersey still has the second-highest numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths, behind New York, which has counted more than 379,000 cases and at least 24,348 deaths, according to the state’s health department.