CDC puts out ‘Domestic Travel Advisory’ for New Jersey in order to mitigate coronavirus outbreak

The CDC is now recommending that residents of New Jersey “refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days effective immediately” in order to prevent further spreading of COVID-19. The travel notice does not apply to workers and employees of essential business who must continue reporting to their jobs during the pandemic, and that Gov. Phil Murphy will have full discretion on how to implement the guidelines across the state.

“Throughout the day, I’ve been in constant communication with the White House, including discussions with the President and Vice President, who briefed me on tonight's CDC travel advisory affecting the tri-state region,” Murphy said in a statement on Saturday night. “To be clear, this non-binding advisory guidance does not change the rules that have been established and in place for over a week now under Executive Order 107. If you have been working as part of our frontline response effort, from health care workers to supermarket workers, we still need you on the job. I encourage all New Jerseyans to continue practicing aggressive social distancing and take personal responsibility to help us get through this public health emergency.“

Last week, Murphy mandated all residents to "stay at home" and banned public and private gatherings of all sizes across the state on Saturday, as well as ordered all non-essential businesses to close until further notice. 

Essential businesses in New Jersey are grocery stores, food banks, pharmacies, medical marijuana dispensaries, gas stations, automobile repair shops, convenience stores, banks and financial institutions, hardware repair stores, laundromats, printing stores, pet stores, stores with children's supplies, mail and delivery stores, and liquor stores. Restaurant and bars may only remain open for food takeout and delivery.

The decision to implement a domestic travel advisory comes after President Donald Trump said on Saturday afternoon that he was originally considering a 14-day quarantine for the three states. But after consulting with the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the governors of all three states, Trump decided that it would “not be necessary” and requested that the CDC instead issue a “strong travel advisory.”

New Jersey now has 11,124 positive cases of coronavirus, second only to New York in the entire country, and 140 deaths as a result of COVID-19 as of Saturday afternoon. Of that, 327 confirmed cases have popped up thus far in South Jersey.

Camden County has 123 cases, Burlington County has 115 cases, Gloucester County has 51 cases, Atlantic County has 17 cases, Cumberland County has 11 cases, Cape May County has seven cases, and Salem County has three cases.