Gov. Murphy Hopes Indoor Capacity Limit Can Increase Soon

As the weather gets colder, everyone has been wondering one thing: "What does this mean for outdoor and indoor dining?"

Currently, restaurants are allowed to serve customers outdoors which is the main way businesses have survived through the Summer.

Indoor dining is allowed but the maximum capacity limit is currently 25%. Otherwise, there is takeout and delivery.

But once Winter really strikes, outdoor dining will be off the table and a lot of businesses won't be able to survive off of the 25% capacity limit set for indoors.

Governor Phil Murphy finally spoke on the topic.

When it comes to increasing the indoor dining capacity,  Murphy thinks it will be safe to do so, "sooner rather than later."

“Can we go from 25% in restaurants to 50% or more responsibly sooner than later? I think we can,” Murphy said.

The only thing is he does not know when.

“We’ll get there,” the governor said. “I can’t say when. But if we continue to see sustained, good data, that will allow us to take more steps. Particularly on indoor stuff. It’s getting colder, so getting that capacity up inside is even more compelling.”

When it comes to kids returning to schools, Murphy is basically giving a very similar response: he hopes it can happen soon but he is not promising anything until he knows it is safe.

“I hope sooner than later,” Murphy said, without giving a date or other details. “There’s no comparison for learning remote versus learning in person. ... We’ve got to do it safely. That’s principle No. 1."

But one thing he is pretty sure of is that we are not returning to the normal we knew in 2019 anytime soon. And that is not just a New Jersey thing.

But we are allowed out of self-quarantine so one could say that we have come a LONGGGG way.

Take a look at the original article for more information at NJ.com.