New Jersey’s State & County Parks To Close Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

New Jersey’s state and county parks will close indefinitely beginning today, per a new executive order signed by Governor Phil Murphy on Tuesday.

The governor made the announcement during Tuesday’s coronavirus press conference.

“Don’t think that I take this action lightly,” Governor Murphy said when making the announcement. “We need one hundred percent compliance to flatten the curve.”

The decision to close the state’s parks does NOT affect municipal parks. The decisions regarding those parks will remain up to local officials, but Governor Murphy reminds residents to NOT travel to another town’s parks system.

Instead, he encouraged New Jerseyians to stay close to home as they go for walks and bike rides in their own community.

During the press conference, the governor reported the state's highest single-day death toll to date in New Jersey with 232 new cases, bringing total to 1,232 fatalities. New Jersey now has 44,416 total COVID-19 cases.