NJ stay at home order continued indefinitely

There is no end in sight for the stay-at-home order in New Jersey.  It comes as the coronavirus outbreak is now blamed for the deaths of more than 6,000 people across the state.

The state-at-home order has been in place across New Jersey since March 21, 2020.

On Monday afternoon, Gov. Phil Murphy explained the steps that he says need to take place to reopen the state.  

>NJ reports more coronavirus deaths on Tuesday than NY

"To move out from under this order we will need to see, at least, a sustained reduction in the number of new positive COVID-19 test results, new COVID-19 hospitalizations, and other metrics," Murphy said.

He said that there needed to be a 14-day trend of reduced cases before any reopening could take place.

>MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

The roadmap he announced included six principals called The Road Back.

1.  Sustained reductions in new cases
2.  Expanded testing and speedier results
3.  Implementing robust contact tracing
4.  Securing safe places for people who are diagnosed in the future can isolate

Under expanded testing, Murphy said that the rate of testing would need to at least double in the state.  He said that would not happen before the end of May.

He said after the first four steps are met the state could move on to the final steps.

5.  Responsibly restart the economy
6.  Ensuring resiliency in the future

"We only want to have to do this once," Murphy said.

>BLUE ANGELS/THUNDERBIRDS TO FLY OVER NJ

"This is weeks, I'm not sure it's months," Murphy said later in the news conference.  "I don't want folks to lose their hope."

He then said that a decision on what would happen with schools would not be announced until May 15th.

Looking forward to the summer, Murphy said he could not see a normal beach season at the Jersey shore.  He expects there to be social distancing at the beach through the summer.

---------

Get breaking news alerts in the FOX5NY News app. It's FREE!

Download for iOS or Android

---------