Gov. Murphy To Allow Spectators At NJ School Sports Amid COVID-19

NEW JERSEY — Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Friday that he's allowing spectators at school sporting events amid other reopenings he's announced as the state continues to endure the COVID-19 crisis. (You can watch the announcement live here, below.)

The governor will immediately allow a certain amount of spectators at indoor and outdoor high school and other youth sporting events.

Murphy addressed other possible reopenings during his 1 p.m. news conference on Friday. Read more: WATCH LIVE: Gov. Murphy Issues NJ Coronavirus, Vaccines Update

Murphy said spectators will be limited to two parents or guardians per athlete, as long as attendants don't exceed the room capacity.

In response to today’s executive order issued by Governor Murphy’s office – which allows a limited number of parents and guardians to attend indoor and outdoor high school sporting events – NJSIAA issued the following statement:

“NJSIAA welcomes the governor’s executive order, which provides an opportunity for limited spectators to attend high school sporting events. We hope this order marks another positive step in the return to play. At the same time, we urge parents to give our member schools time to review the governor’s order and determine both overall feasibility and a specific process for increasing occupancy as outlined.”

Murphy made the announcement as coronavirus cases have decreased across New Jersey in recent weeks.

Murphy has said the changes are being made because "the data says we can." He pointed to a 20 percent decrease in the number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations over the last four weeks. He also acknowledged that the transmission rate fell below 1, and it has hovered around 1 for a few months.

"I feel comfortable signing this order because of our recent hospital trends and our rate of transmission," Murphy recently said. "While some of these numbers are still high, we believe we can make this expansion without leading to undue or further stress on our health care system. The proprietors have done an exceptional job, but so much of the credit needs to go to the millions of you who have taken your responsibility for ending this pandemic to heart."

The announcement also comes a week after Murphy announced that he's rolling back some restrictions on indoor gatherings that he set in place in November. Read more: Gov. Murphy To Loosen NJ's Indoor COVID-19 Rules

Murphy announced that limits on indoor gatherings will increase to 35 percent, up from the current 25 percent, effective 8 a.m. last Friday. The number of people permitted indoors will be limited to 150.

Of note, Murphy announced that restaurants will also be permitted to stay open past 10 p.m. The announcement came as restaurants and bars prepared for Super Bowl Sunday.

Towns will be allowed to place their own restrictions, too, but customers will still not be able to sit at the bar, Murphy said.

The changes will also apply to gyms, casinos, performance venues, barbershops, hair salons and amusement and indoor recreation. Religious ceremonies such as weddings and memorial services or funerals would also be allowed to expand attendance.

Murphy added that because the state reopened restaurants responsibly, the state has never reduced capacity.

"We opened indoor dining on Sept. 4 to 25 percent, and I believe that we are the only state in America that has never wavered up or down from that," Murphy said. "As you would hope we would, we will closely monitor this, and stay ahead of it."

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