N.J. town extends indoor mask mandate through March – NJ.com
Leadership in Montclair Township voted unanimously Tuesday to extend their Essex County community’s indoor mask mandate through the end of March — keeping with a measure beyond current state requirements that “strongly recommend” coverings regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status.
“Any mitigation measures we can take, we’re all just trying to do what we can, especially during this very transmissible strain that’s hitting everybody right now,” said Mayor Sean Spiller during the Jan. 18 virtual council meeting, referring to the omicron variant that has become the dominant strain of the coronavirus. After a surge in December driven by omicron, numbers of cases have recently started to fall.
Montclair is among at least five New Jersey municipalities that instituted indoor mask mandates in December amid the omicron variant surge, by requiring face coverings in all public buildings and businesses regardless of vaccination status.
A similar mandate in Paterson applies only to buildings owned and operated by the city.
In Morristown, Mayor Tim Dougherty lifted the town’s mask mandate on Thursday, citing recent declines in case numbers.
South Orange will reevaluate its mask mandate when the township’s Board of Trustees meets on Monday, said Village Administrator Adam D. Loehner.
“Fortunately, the Township is seeing a drop-off in new test cases daily and ideally will lift the mandate when our 7-day average of new positive cases mirror early December prior to the significant spike in cases from the omicron variant,” Loehner said in an email.
New Jersey on Thursday reported another 161 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 10,072 positive tests as Gov. Phil Murphy expressed optimism the state has turned the corner on the omicron variant surge with hospitalizations down 18% from a recent peak.
“We’re early days in terms of turning the corner, but it certainly looks like we’ve begun to turn the corner here,” Murphy said during a morning appearance on PIX 11 television.
However, it certainly is early days. Murphy noted this week about 575,000 people in the state tested positive for the virus over the past month in what he referred to as “an omicron tsunami.” In addition, the statewide positivity rate remains above 20%. On Saturday, the most recent day available, it was 23.33% — meaning more than 1 in 5 people who were tested had a positive result.
All of New Jersey’s 21 counties are also currently listed as having “high” rates of coronavirus transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency recommends that all people in high transmission counties wear masks for indoor public settings regardless of vaccination status.
According to an Essex County dashboard, Montclair reported an additional 18 confirmed cases and no deaths Thursday, and a total of 183,835 cases and 3,040 deaths in the county overall.
Councilor Robin Schlager, who participated in Tuesday’s meeting while sick with COVID-19 herself, said she “wholeheartedly” supported extending the town’s indoor mask mandate.
“I can attest that although I’ve been so diligent and so careful, I still managed to come down with COVID, and it’s been almost a week now. You can’t be too careful,” Schlager said. “So this mask mandate, we all have to do as best we can to adhere to it.”
Gov. Phil Murphy has said the state “strongly recommended” face masks in areas of “increased risk” including the following:
- Crowded indoor settings
- Indoor settings involving activities in close contact with others who may not be fully vaccinated
- Indoor settings where others’ vaccine status is unknown
- When an individual is immunocompromised or at increased risk for severe disease
With concerns about omicron still prevalent, state officials are urging residents to receive a booster shot if they haven’t already and get tested before participating in large gatherings. New Jerseyans can also take advantage of a new federal program, which will deliver free test kits and N95 masks to residents’ homes.
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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.