Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey held his last coronavirus briefing on Friday, when he introduced that he would raise the state’s public well being emergency subsequent week, a big second for a state that was an early epicenter of the virus.
The general public well being emergency, which Mr. Murphy reinstated in January in response to a surge in instances fueled by the Omicron variant, will finish on Monday. That’s the similar day that the state will raise its obligatory masking coverage in faculties and day care amenities. The masking requirement was the final main mitigation technique left in place, Mr. Murphy mentioned.
The choice to finish his press briefings, in addition to the masks mandates and the general public well being order, signify the state’s transition towards treating the coronavirus as part of day by day life as day by day case charges and hospitalizations proceed to say no, Mr. Murphy mentioned.
“The time has come to maneuver towards normalcy,” Mr. Murphy mentioned.
The governor had introduced final month that he was aiming to drop these pandemic measures this week so long as Covid traits remained on a downward trajectory, they usually have. As of Friday, the 14-day common of latest coronavirus instances was down by 38 p.c, in keeping with a New York Instances database. And the 14-day common variety of new sufferers hospitalized with Covid-19 in New Jersey was down by 42 p.c.
Friday’s briefing was two years to the day because the state’s first confirmed coronavirus case, Mr. Murphy mentioned, and served as a becoming finish to his pandemic updates. Over the previous two years, Mr. Murphy has held 257 briefings and fielded greater than 6,200 questions from reporters.