New Jersey closed shopping malls may reopen shoppers on Monday for the first time in months after they were ordered to close to delay the coronavirus outbreak.
Skins are required and shopping malls must meet 50% capacity limits. But the New Jersey economic icon is back in business.
New Jersey’s motor vehicle inspection stations are also reopening on Monday with a list of additional allowed activities including amusement parks, game rooms, and indoor dining sets to reopen on Thursday.
Internal portions of shopping malls have been closed since March 17. While Governor Phil Murphy allowed nonessential retail stores to reopen two weeks ago, the malls were taken out of service. However, stores that had exterior doors with direct access for shoppers could reopen.
When the common interior areas of the shopping malls are reopened, all customers and employees must wear face covers at all times while inside, except those with medical conditions that make this impossible and children under 2 years of age. The mall must deny entry to customers who refuse to cover their faces, according to an administrative order signed by Colonel Patrick Callahan, superintendent of the state police.
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Communal seats and food courts must remain closed. Isolated seats and benches are allowed. Kiosks can work, though customers must stay 6 feet away at all times.
Restaurants and eateries in shopping malls may offer takeout, home delivery, and cookouts, but indoor dining remains banned, as it is statewide, until later this week.
Indoor entertainment businesses such as movie theaters and game rooms will remain closed as they are across the state.
Also off limits: valet parking, vending machines, stroller rentals, and communal children’s play areas.
Malls were also encouraged to develop: policies to minimize congestion points and maintain social distance, such as a customer flow plan with floor marks or separate entry and exit points. “
New Jersey is entering its third week in Stage 2 of the state reopening.
Murphy has said that Stage 3, which includes expanded indoor restaurants, reopening of bars, and limited entertainment, could come in a matter of weeks, not months, if the state outbreak continues to subside.
But the governor has not outlined specific benchmarks the state has reached as it gradually lifts its restrictions. Instead, it has noted a general decline in the number of new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations, as well as a steady decline in the rate of virus reproduction.
NJ Advance Media Writer Brent johnson contributed to this report.
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