N.J. Admin. Code § Executive Order No. 131 (2020)
Governor Philip D. Murphy
Executive Order No. 131 (2020)
An Order Creating a Commission Charged with Advising the Administration on the Timing and Preparation for New Jersey's Recovery from the COVID-19 Shutdown
Issued: April 28, 2020.
Effective: April 28, 2020.
WHEREAS, through Executive Order No. 102 (2020), which I signed on February 3, 2020, I created the State's Coronavirus Task Force, chaired by the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health, in order to coordinate the State's efforts to appropriately prepare for and respond to the public health hazard posed by Coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19"); and
WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, through Executive Order No. 103 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, I declared both a Public Health Emergency and a State of Emergency throughout the State due to the public health hazard created by COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on April 7, 2020, I issued Executive Order No. 119 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, which declared that the Public Health Emergency declared in Executive Order No. 103 (2020) continues to exist; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with N.J.S.A. App. A:9-34 and -51, I reserved the right to utilize and employ all available resources of State government to protect against the emergency created by COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, as COVID-19 continued to spread across New Jersey and an increasing number of individuals required medical care or hospitalization, I issued a series of Executive Orders pursuant to my authority under the New Jersey Civilian Defense and Disaster Control Act and the Emergency Health Powers Act to protect the public health, safety, and welfare against the emergency created by COVID-19, including Executive Order Nos. 104-130 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are all adopted by reference herein; and
WHEREAS, among these actions, and in recognition that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") has advised that social mitigation strategies for combatting COVID-19 require every effort to reduce the rate of community spread of the disease and that COVID-19 spreads most frequently through person-to-person contact when individuals are within six feet or less of one another, I issued Executive Order No. 107 (2020) to order steps to mitigate community spread of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) closed non-essential retail businesses to the public, but permitted essential retail businesses and other businesses that require an in-person workforce to continue to operate; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) permitted restaurants, cafeterias, dining establishments, food courts, bars, and all other holders of a liquor license with retail consumption privileges, to operate only food delivery and/or take-out services during their normal business hours; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) stated that businesses or non-profits who have employees who cannot perform their functions via telework or work-from-home arrangements should make best efforts to reduce staff on site to the minimal number necessary to ensure that essential operations can continue; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) directed all New Jersey residents to remain at home or at their place of residence, unless they qualified under certain defined categories, including reporting to, or performing, their job; and
WHEREAS, as of April 27, 2020, according to the World Health Organization, there were more than 2,878,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with over 198,000 of those cases having resulted in death; and
WHEREAS, as of April 27, 2020, according to the CDC, there were more than 957,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, with over 53,000 of those cases having resulted in death; and
WHEREAS, as of April 27, 2020, there were over 111,000 positive cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey, with at least 6,044 of those cases having resulted in death; and
WHEREAS, because of the aggressive social distancing measures we have instituted, we have begun to see a slowdown in the spread of COVID-19 and a decrease in the number of hospitalizations; and
WHEREAS, public health experts have consistently warned that rescinding social distancing restrictions and allowing society to operate as it did before the COVID-19 outbreak would result in a new spike of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths that would overwhelm our health care system and impose massive economic damage; and
WHEREAS, any effort to loosen the restrictions in place must therefore be done thoughtfully, responsibly, and in a manner that does not unnecessarily jeopardize public health; and
WHEREAS, the development of a plan for loosening the restrictions and gradually reopening the economy will benefit from expertise in various sectors, including public health, business, infrastructure, mass transit, and academia; and
WHEREAS, this expertise will assist officials in government as they face difficult choices involving the appropriate levels of economic and other activity that can be allowed in light of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
N.J. Admin. Code Executive Order No. 131 (2020)