Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone again called on Gov. Murphy to allow the reopening of indoor dining as well as the reopening of gyms and any other business shut down for the last five months.
“I am asking Governor Murphy to either permit restaurants to host indoor dining or, at least, put together a staged plan with dates on when this next phase will begin. I also ask the same for gyms and any other industry that has yet to reopen due to the state’s shutdown orders.
“Our restaurant industry has suffered for nearly 15 weeks with no solid plan on when they can resume welcoming patrons inside. While outdoor dining has helped, it is does not bring in nearly enough revenue for our restaurants to survive much longer. Not to mention, no one is going to want to dine outdoors come colder weather. This current operation is not self-sustaining.
Arnone said the majority of Monmouth County residents have been socially distancing and making responsible decisions during the. He noted that the number of positive Covid cases has significantly flattened.
“In Monmouth County, we average about 40 or less new positive cases reported daily,” he said. “To put this into perspective, our estimated population here is 630,000. This means that we see about .006% of our population tests positive daily.
“We quarantined so we didn’t overwhelm the hospital system. We flattened the curve. We’ve acted responsibly and our numbers prove as much. It’s time the state joins Monmouth County in having faith in our restaurant industry and allows them to reopen with the proper policies in place.”
