On Monday, March 16, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 104, implementing aggressive social distancing measures to mitigate further spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey. Among the directives, Governor Murphy’s Executive Order indefinitely closes all public and private preschool, elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education, as well as closes all casinos, racetracks, gyms, movie theaters, and performing arts centers. The order also mandates that all non-essential retail, recreational, and entertainment businesses must cease daily operations from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. All restaurant establishments, with or without a liquor license, are limited to offering only delivery and/or take out-services only, both during daytime hours and after 8 p.m.

In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, Governor Murphy’s executive order directs:

• All gatherings of persons in the State of New Jersey shall be limited to 50 persons or fewer, with limited exceptions;
• All public, private, and parochial preschool programs, and elementary and secondary schools, including charter and renaissance schools, will be closed beginning on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, and remain closed as long as the Order remains in effect;
• Institutions of higher education will cease all in-person instruction beginning on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, and shall cease such in-person instruction as long as the Order remains in effect;
• The Commissioner of Education shall continue working with each public, private, and parochial school to ensure students are able to continue their education through appropriate home instruction
• The Secretary of Agriculture and the Commissioner of Education shall take all necessary actions to ensure all students eligible for free or reduced meals will continue to receive the services necessary to meet nutritional needs during closures;
• All casinos, concert venues, nightclubs, racetracks, gyms, fitness centers and classes, movie theaters, and performing arts centers will be closed to the public beginning on Monday, March 16, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. and remain closed as long as this Order remains in effect;
• All other non-essential retail, recreational, and entertainment businesses must cease daily operations from 8:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m.; and
• All restaurant establishments, with or without a liquor or limited brewery license, are limited to offering delivery and/or take out-services only.

For more details about these directives, read the entire Executive Order at https://nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-104.pdf

Due to these more expansive and uniform statewide measures, the Borough of Red Bank is rescinding the State of Local Disaster Emergency dated March 15, 2020. Therefore, the Borough of Red Bank will defer to Executive Order 104 to ensure the public has a more consistent and clear understanding of the COVID-19 statewide measures.  The health and safety of our community must be our number one priority.

Violators may be subject to fines and penalties.  It is incumbent upon all of us to aggressively mitigate the potential for exposure and further spread.  We apologize for any inconvenience but the safety of our business community and the public is our main concern.  We appreciate your advance cooperation and understanding during this difficult time.  The Borough encourages businesses to be proactive and follow the guidelines of the U.S. CDC which can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/businesses-employers.html 

As part of the state’s coordinated response to address the novel coronavirus outbreak, Governor Phil Murphy declared a State of Emergency and a Public Health Emergency, effective March 9, 2020 to ramp up New Jersey’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.  The Borough of Red Bank Mayor & Council, Administration, Office of Emergency Management, Police Department and Fire Department continue to monitor the developing situation involving presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Monmouth County.  As of March 16, 2020, the Borough of Red Bank is not aware of any presumptive or confirmed positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Red Bank.  For more information, visit the New Jersey COVID-19 Dashboard at https://www.state.nj.us/health/cd/topics/covid2019_dashboard.shtml

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the respiratory illness caused by a new virus that first emerged in December 2019.  The NJ Department of Health (NJDOH) is leading the state’s response to COVID-19 and is working closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For up-to-date information and recommendations, please visit the NJDOH coronavirus webpage (https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/ncov.shtml) and the CDC coronavirus webpage (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html).