Governor Murphy postpones primary; announces restrictions for construction work, essential retail stores

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Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order today postponing New Jersey’s primary elections to July 7 from June 2 as the death toll from Covid-19 continues to mount.

The delay applies to the primaries for president, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the 25th District of the New Jersey Legislature, and county and municipal elections.

Nearly 48,000 people among the state’s 9 million residents have tested positive for Covid-19, and more than 1,500 people have died from coronavirus-related complications since the first case was detected in the state on March 4.

Restrictions on some construction, grocery stores

The governor announced an additional executive order today requiring all non-essential construction work across the state to cease operations indefinitely, starting at 8 p.m. on Friday.

The order includes restrictions on essential retail stores, including grocery stores, which were ordered to limit the number of customers in their stores to 50 percent of their approved capacity.

All employees and customers will be required to wear face coverings; and stores must provide special shopping hours for high-risk individuals, erect physical barriers between customers, cashiers and baggers, and regularly sanitize areas used by their employees.

On Tuesday, Murphy signed an executive order extending the public health emergency declared on March 9. Under the state’s Emergency Health Powers Act, a declared public health emergency expires after 30 days unless renewed.