New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday will begin unraveling the state’s aggressive anti-Covid rules, starting with a school mask mandate for all students and kids in child care settings
The move by the Democratic governor, whose state faced some of the worst Covid casualty rates of the pandemic, offers a clear sign that the steady decline in cases that have followed the Omicron variant could lead to a new stage of life under Covid. It follows a similar decision last month by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, also a Democrat.
A spokesperson for Murphy, Mahen Gunaratna, said New Jersey students in grades K-12 and those in a child care setting will not be required to mask up starting March 7.
The governor plans to officially announce the move at a press briefing in Trenton at 1 p.m. The New York Times first reported the news.
New Jersey is one of the last blue states with a school mask mandate in place. It was also one of the hardest hit states in the early days of the pandemic, an outcome that led Murphy — now the vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association — to impose some of the most stringent public health rules in the country.
New Jersey teachers are also required to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing, though school employees are not required to get booster shots. That requirement is expected to remain in place.
Lifting of the mask mandate was not wholly unexpected in New Jersey. Murphy had been hinting for weeks that he saw the end of the school mask requirement coming sometime this school year.
Murphy came dangerously close to losing his reelection last year, surviving by just 3 points in a race many were anticipating would end with a double digit Democratic victory. Murphy, the only governor who was up for reelection last year, told POLITICO in December that the result was likely fueled by pandemic angst.
Some New Jersey residents, he said at the time, “feel like government is not connecting with them. They’re sick of masks, being told what to do in terms of vaccines.”
