[ad_1]
All indoor sports at recreational levels for youth, high schools and adults – both games and workouts – will be suspended for four weeks to help fight the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, announced Monday Governor Phil Murphy.
College and professional sports are not included in the “full break,” as Murphy called it, which takes effect at 6 a.m. on Saturday and lasts until January 2.
The ordinance will apply to organized recreational sports for youth, high schools and adults such as basketball, ice hockey and swimming, including club and travel teams.
In fact, it won’t affect most winter sports in New Jersey high schools, as many have been postponed until at least January. But that will push back high school ice hockey, which was scheduled to start training in mid-December.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association said in a statement Monday, “We hope that with the schedule changes, the ice hockey season will be viable when the state hiatus is lifted.
Murphy’s office has yet to release full details of the executive order.
But the office said sports-related classes – including swimming, dancing or gymnastics – are allowed. Their lessons should always meet the state’s current 10-person limit for indoor gatherings.
A swim team, however, would not be allowed to hold any training or competition, the office said.
“That doesn’t include you or me going to a batting cage,” Murphy said of the order during his last coronavirus briefing in Trenton, where he also announced that the assembly limits in outdoors in New Jersey would be capped at 25 people starting next Monday to help fight. COVID-19[FEMALE[FEMININE
The governor said the suspension of indoor sports was not a step the state takes lightly.
“As people know, I’m a huge sports fan and all of my kids play,” Murphy said. “I hope and intend to see the winter sports season in January. I want to see this high school student play his final season and I appreciate the importance of sport for the physical and mental well-being of our children. But we are seeing epidemics linked to indoor sports and this is a prudent short-term measure to slow the spread.
In its statement, the NJSIAA said Murphy “made it clear that he wanted high school winter sports to be practiced, based on the significant mental and physical health benefits it provides and in recognition of people seniors who want one more season of the sports they love. “
“NJSIAA looks forward to working with the governor and his staff in this regard,” the group added.
There have been 28 outbreaks in New Jersey related to indoor sports, affecting 170 people, officials said. Of that number, 20 outbreaks and 100 cases are related to youth hockey.
“Pausing in these activities will help slow the spread of the virus,” said Dr. Ed Lifshitz, medical director of the Communicable Disease Service at the State Department of Health. “However, these new restrictions must be part of increased vigilance by all New Jersey residents during the holiday season. We need everyone to do their part. “
Earlier this month, Murphy ordered the suspension of all interstate indoor sports for young people over similar concerns.
Despite the new outdoor gathering limit, outdoor sports will still be allowed because the people needed for the matches – athletes, coaches, referees and staff – will not count towards the 25-person limit. But spectators would not be allowed if that number exceeds 25.
Asked about the science the state uses to make Monday’s decisions, Murphy noted that epidemics related to indoor sports and recognized officials are “less concerned about outdoor gatherings.”
But, he said, now that the high school football season is over, “it’s time to lower that outer limit as well.”
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracking | Bulletin | Home page
Republican lawmakers criticized Murphy’s new rules, noting how much the state’s transmission rate has fallen and daily deaths have remained lower in the spring. They called on the Democratic-controlled state legislature to step in and keep Murphy, a Democrat, in check.
“The legislature has resolved to become a government accessory in New Jersey,” said state deputy Brian Bergen, R-Morris. “Our governor rules by decree, vetoing legislation that would help people, making unilateral decisions without providing the data or science to which he refers, and our Senate and our Assembly have chosen to be useless.
Despite the new restrictions, Murphy on Monday dismissed rumors that he was planning a statewide shutdown like the one he instituted in March and insisted the state was on “a much better sitting ”than it was in the first wave of spring – when there was little knowledge, supplies and testing to fight the virus.
Instead, Murphy said, the state now has “the ability to be more focused and more surgical.”
“We have much better data and science as of now than eight months ago – and we can focus the restrictions on activities that have been found to have the greatest risk of transmission,” he added.
Murphy said the main concern is with hospitals in the state, where the number of patients with COVID-19 has more than tripled in the past month. There were 2,961 patients with confirmed or suspected cases on Sunday evening – far fewer than the more than 8,000 hospitalized at the peak of the first wave in April, but still the most since May. This includes 575 patients in intensive care, of which 332 are on ventilators.
“Stability of our health care system begins with carefully chosen steps to prevent the spread of this virus,” Murphy said.
New Jersey on Monday reported 3,199 more cases of COVID-19 and 15 more deaths. The state’s seven-day moving average for new cases is 4,014 – a drop of 1% from a week ago, but still more than double the 1,751 cases reported on the first day of the month.
The statewide transmission rate fell for the 12th consecutive day, to 1.11, from 1.14 on Sunday. Any number greater than 1 means the state’s epidemic is on the rise. But it is the lowest transmission rate since September 19 and indicates that if the epidemic continues to spread, the rate of increase in cases is slowing, officials said.
Officials have also warned that if a coronavirus vaccine is on the horizon, the outbreak over the next few months could be difficult as people spend more time indoors, especially during the winter holidays.
The new rules announced on Monday are the latest round of recent restrictions ordered by Murphy since the state was hit by a second wave of the pandemic.
Earlier this month, Murphy ordered bars and restaurants in New Jersey to shut down domestic service every day at 10 p.m. He also banned all indoor bar seating and gave counties and municipalities the power to ‘order non-essential businesses to shut down at 8 p.m. to try and slow the spread.
Thank you for relying on us to provide you with journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.
Brent Johnson can be reached at [email protected].
[ad_2]
Source link