If New York City brings back a mask mandate amid rising cases of COVID-19, don’t expect New Jersey to follow suit.
New York City officials are “strongly” recommending that people wear masks as cases of COVID and the flu rise.
But Gov. Phil Murphy says that he does not expect to issue any mask mandates any time soon. The governor spoke in Dover on Monday at an unrelated event. He says that New Jersey residents should just use common sense, while also making sure they are vaccinated and boosted against the virus.
“We don’t want to mandate things that we can’t enforce. And I don’t think the market’s going to bear that. Again, if it changes dramatically, we reserve the right, obviously but…I don’t foresee that happening,” Murphy said.
New Jersey had an indoor mask mandate for more than 14 months from March 2020 through May 2021.