New Jersey Administrative Code › Title - EXECUTIVE ORDERS › Title 55 - CHRIS CHRISTIE › Section - Executive Order No. 183 (2020)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
Governor Philip D. Murphy
Executive Order No. 183 (2020)
An Order Allowing the Resumption of Indoor Dining Effective Friday, September 4, 2020
Issued: September 1, 2020.
Effective: September 1, 2020.
WHEREAS, in light of the dangers posed by Coronavirus disease 2019("COVID-19"), I issued Executive Order No. 103 on March 9, 2020, the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, [page=1715] which declared both a Public Health Emergency and State of Emergency; and
WHEREAS, through Executive Order Nos. 119, 138, 151, 162, 171, and 180, issued on April 7, 2020, May 6, 2020, June 4, 2020, July 2, 2020, August 1, 2020, and August 27, 2020, respectively, the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, I declared that the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency continued to exist and declared that all Executive Orders and Administrative Orders adopted in whole or in part in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency remained in full force and effect; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with N.J.S.A. App. A:9-34 and -51, I reserve 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. 104-133, Nos. 135-138, Nos. 140-166, Nos. 168-173, No. 175, and Nos. 177-181 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are all adopted by reference herein; and
WHEREAS, to further limit community spread from person-to-person contact through use of social mitigation measures, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) closed all recreational and entertainment businesses, and limited all restaurants, dining establishments, and food courts, with or without a liquor license, all bars, and all other holders of a liquor license with retail consumption privileges, to offering food delivery and/or take-out services only; and
WHEREAS, given the decrease in the rate of reported new cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey, including a reduction in the total number of individuals being admitted to hospitals for COVID-19, the State has taken and can take steps to lift certain restrictions that were designed to limit person-to-person contact; and
WHEREAS, even as the rate of reported new cases of COVID-19 decreases, the ongoing risks presented by COVID-19 mean that many of the State's current measures must remain in place, both to reduce additional new infections and to save lives; and
WHEREAS, after consultation with officials from the Department of Health ("DOH"), I announced a multi-stage New Jersey's Road Back Plan (the "Plan") for the methodical and strategic reopening of businesses and activities based on scientific data and metrics concerning the level of disease transmission risk and essential classification; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with this Plan, on June 3, 2020, I signed Executive Order No. 150, which authorized food or beverage establishments to offer in-person service at outdoor areas, provided that the food or beverage establishment complied with certain social distancing protocols; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 150 (2020) prohibited smoking in any outdoor areas designated for the consumption of food and/or beverages, but stated that the requirement that food or beverage establishments impose this prohibition would automatically sunset when in-person service was permitted in indoor areas; and
WHEREAS, on June 9, 2020, I signed Executive Order No. 153, which allowed all recreational and entertainment businesses to reopen their outdoor spaces to the public as long as they adopted policies containing a specified list of health and safety requirements; and
WHEREAS, I signed Executive Order No. 157 on June 26, 2020, which authorized most recreational and entertainment businesses to reopen their entire premises, whether indoor or outdoor, to the public, contingent on those businesses adopting certain health and safety protocols; and
WHEREAS, while Executive Order No. 157 (2020) announced the limited resumption of indoor dining, this step was put on hold in Executive Order No. 158 (2020), in light of COVID-19 spikes in states around the nation, which were attributed by state officials and other experts, at least in part, to activities in indoor food and beverage establishments; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 157 (2020) prohibited certain recreational and entertainment businesses, including health clubs, performance-based entertainment centers such as movie theaters, performing arts centers, or other concert venues, and indoor amusement or water parks, from opening their indoor spaces to the public because they were deemed to pose an unacceptably high risk of transmission of COVID-19 at that time; and
WHEREAS, on August 27, 2020, I signed Executive Order No. 181 (2020), which opened health clubs and indoor amusement and water parks with strict capacity limits and mask requirements; and
WHEREAS, indoor performance-based entertainment centers have posed unique challenges because they involve individuals in proximity for unusually significant periods of time, and, in the case of centers like movie theaters that offer concessions, necessitate individuals removing their masks for limited periods; and
WHEREAS, indoor dining has also presented challenges given that it necessitates individuals removing their masks, and given that it has been tied to spikes in other states; and
WHEREAS, because of the enormous progress that New Jersey has made in combatting the spread of COVID-19, including the lack of any sustained uptick in transmission for the last several months, it is now appropriate to allow indoor dining and indoor entertainment centers to operate, with strict capacity limits and health and safety protocols; and
WHEREAS, in line with the State's overall rules, which require individuals to wear a face covering any time they are in a range of indoor locations, except when doing so would endanger someone's health or would physically block an activity from taking place, individuals will still be required to wear a mask in indoor dining locations or performance-based entertainment centers except when consuming their food or drinks; and
WHEREAS, in light of this continued progress, and of the importance of activities that receive heightened First Amendment protection, including religious worship and political activities, it is appropriate to adjust the limit on these types of indoor gatherings upward, while maintaining the 25 percent capacity limit that ensures that individuals are able to appropriately social distance; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution and statutes of the State of New Jersey, particularly the provisions of N.J.S.A. 26:13-1et seq., N.J.S.A. App. A: 9-33 et seq., N.J.S.A. 38A:3-6.1, and N.J.S.A. 38A:2-4 and all amendments and supplements thereto, confer upon the Governor of the State of New Jersey certain emergency powers, which I have invoked;
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:
1. Effective at 6:00 a.m. on Friday, September 4, 2020, restaurants, cafeterias, dining establishments, and food courts, with or without a liquor license, bars, and all other holders of a liquor license with retail consumption privileges, collectively referred to as "food or beverage establishments," are permitted to offer in-person service at indoor areas, provided that the establishment complies with the following requirements:
a. Limit the number of patrons in indoor areas to 25 percent of the food or beverage establishment's indoor capacity, excluding the food or beverage establishment's employees;
b. Ensure that tables where individuals or groups are seated are six feet apart in all directions from any other table or seat and that individual seats in any shared area that is not reserved for individual groups, such as an indoor bar area, are also six feet apart in all directions from any other table or seat;
c. Require indoor patrons to wear face coverings while inside the indoor premises of the food or beverage establishment. When seated at their table or their individual seat, indoor patrons shall wear face coverings until their food or drinks arrive, and after individuals have finished consuming their food or drinks, they shall put their face coverings back on. The face covering requirement does not apply if the patron has a medical reason for not wearing a face covering or is a child under two years of age;
d. Food or beverage establishments shall only allow patrons to place orders for indoor table service when they are seated at a table or bar, and only wait staff or other employees may bring food or beverages to seated patrons;
e. Patrons may only consume food or beverages while seated; and
f. Abide by all other health and safety standards issued by the Commissioner of DOH, including infection control practices and other [page=1716] sanitization protocols, consistent with her authority under the Emergency Health Powers Act.