N.J. indoor mask mandate, social distancing ends today for most settings. Here are the details, exceptions. - NJ.com

For the first time in more than a year, New Jersey residents will awake Friday without indoor mask and social distancing requirements in most circumstances as the state lifts two of its key remaining rules ordered to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

While those who are unvaccinated are still strongly urged to wear masks in public settings, New Jersey’s shift to follow federal guidance on masks relies on the honor system, with no checks or verifications for vaccinations.

It all happens in time for Memorial Day weekend, as residents and tourists celebrate what’s traditionally considered the unofficial arrival of the summer season.

“Today’s a big one,” Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday morning during a radio interview. “This is a particularly big one because we’re finally emerging from this awful pandemic.”

For the first time since last March, bars, restaurants, retail stores, movie theaters, gyms, churches, and more can also operate at full capacity as the state ends its rule that they have to keep 6 feet of distance between patrons or groups. Businesses are still permitted to require staff or customers to wear masks, but it’s no longer a statewide rule.

Murphy has said he’s still encouraging unvaccinated people in “the strongest possible terms” to either get the vaccine or to follow federal guidelines and keep wearing face coverings.

“These steps are the clearest signs of our commitment to carefully and deliberately reopen our state after what has been a truly crushing 14-month period,” Murphy said when he announced the rule change on Monday.

Also, face coverings will still be required on public transportation, in schools, in child care facilities, at summer camps, in healthcare centers, and inside state offices open to the public (such as Motor Vehicle Commission sites). They’re also still required at some workplaces closed to the public (including warehouse and manufacturing facilities), but that mandate ends on June 4.

• RELATED: N.J. mask mandates mostly going away. But here’s where masks will still be required.

Murphy, a Democrat, has faced backlash from Republican lawmakers and others who have argued businesses can’t afford to operate with limited capacity rules. The governor has maintained the rules were necessary to blunt the spread of the virus in the Garden State, which has the most coronavirus deaths per capita among American states, largely driven by the early days of the pandemic.

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Unvaccinated people are strongly encouraged to keep social distancing, as well, Murphy said.

You are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving a second Pfizer or Moderna vaccine dose or two weeks after receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. More than half of the state’s residents have received at least one shot.

The moves came after Murphy insisted for more than a week it was too soon to lift its indoor mask mandate — at least immediately — despite recently updated guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks or social distance in most cases.

“Listen, we weren’t ready, to put it simply, on May 13 when the CDC made their move,” Murphy said Friday morning on CNBC.

In addition, New Jersey will remove all indoor gathering limits June 4, the same day it ends its 30% capacity limit on large indoor venues with 1,000 or more fixed seats. That will allow for full-capacity indoor concerts and sporting events.

The governor’s administration said businesses would not violate laws if they ask employees or patrons to prove their vaccination status — a view also held by legal experts. He also said the state would punish any business that calls for people to remove masks before entering, though he didn’t say what the penalties would be.

Murphy has said he expects a “minority” of unvaccinated people to stop wearing masks.

He also said the state could reinstate mask mandates if including hospitalizations, transmission rate, positivity rate and other health metrics reverse the current downward trends.

The majority of states that still had mask mandates relaxed their rules after the CDC released its updated guidance May 13. But New Jersey — an early coronavirus epicenter and among the first states in the U.S. to put an indoor mask order in place — was one of the few to stick with indoor face coverings.

Murphy said the Garden State — which has eased COVID-19 restrictions more slowly than most states — needed more time to drive down numbers and increase vaccinations.

Tell us your COVID-19 vaccination stories, send us a news tip or questions about the vaccination process on our tip form.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com.

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N.J. indoor mask mandate, social distancing ends today for most settings. Here are the details, exceptions. - NJ.com
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