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Although local governments control beaches and boardwalks, Murphy has the authority as governor to order areas open with such restrictions as 50% parking capacity and 6-foot separations among beachgoers.
“I will be shocked if our beaches are not open, but with very specific guidance, just as we opened county and state parks,” Murphy said during a live interview with NJTV. “You should expect we’ll give guidance on beaches before Memorial Day.”
The beaches would fall in line with Murphy already allowing state and county parks and golf courses to reopen, with social distancing guidelines, this past weekend.
Summer camps aren’t as much of a sure thing, he said.
Murphy said he could “see very clearly a lot of degrees of freedom in an outdoor camp.”
However, “what I can’t see,” he said, “are 50 kids and counselors jammed into a bus to get there in the morning and get back at the end of the day – particularly given [that] folks can spread this virus even when they’re asymptomatic unwittingly to a generation that’s more at risk or somebody with other health challenges.”
As of Thursday, an additional 254 reported COVID-19 deaths brought New Jersey’s total to at least 8,801, the second-most in the U.S.
At the same time, the number of overall cases has been dropping, officials note.
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