N.J. and Philadelphia are moving toward reopening, though officials still don’t know exactly when it will happen

» UPDATE: Gov. Wolf outlines plans for reopening in early June

New Jersey officials announced Tuesday new plans to bolster testing capacity and contact tracing ahead of reopening the state, declining to give a start date for recovery but saying the coronavirus’ grip had loosened enough in the last two weeks to allow the state to begin moving forward.

In Philadelphia, too, officials said that it remained too early to say when the city could reopen but that planning for that eventuality was underway. New cases of the virus and related hospitalizations in the city continued to decrease, with 224 additional cases and 15 deaths reported Tuesday.

In another signal of how abnormal life this summer may be, Mayor Jim Kenney announced that the Wawa Welcome America Festival — the city’s traditional Independence Day celebration — will be held virtually this year, with events and a July Fourth concert broadcast on television instead of being held on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

“There’s nothing worse than taking 200,000 people, in July, in the middle of the pandemic, and putting them together on the Parkway so they can breathe on each other,” Kenney said.

Pennsylvania reported 837 new cases for a total of 57,991 infections and a death toll to date of 3,806 as health officials announced guidance for long-term-care facilities suggesting mass testing of residents and staff in homes with confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

» READ MORE: Pa. nursing homes with COVID-19 cases should test all residents and staff, health officials say

New Jersey reported Tuesday an additional 898 cases, bringing the total to 140,743, and 198 deaths, increasing the state’s toll to 9,508. In addition to new positives and hospitalizations dropping statewide, the growth of cases and deaths in the state’s long-term-care facilities is also beginning to slow, said Gov. Phil Murphy.

“We have seen the trend lines that we’ve needed to see," Murphy said. "The multiple stresses on our state have been consistently, and in some cases dramatically, lessening."

The state should be able to test up to 20,000 people a day by the end of May and up to 25,000 a day by the end of June — “well on its way” to doubling its testing capacity, a requirement Murphy set for reopening.

In addition, the state plans to hire 1,000 people in the coming weeks to perform contact tracing, nearly doubling its current workforce.

“These truly are the underpinnings of the road back," Murphy said. “Without testing and contact tracing working hand in hand, we cannot get on the road back.”

» READ MORE: No, you can't expand your quarantine circle just yet

In Delaware, where officials are aiming to start the first phase of reopening on June 1, Gov. John Carney also announced plans Tuesday to conduct widespread contact tracing. The state plans to hire 200 people for the effort. On Friday, officials will allow farmers’ markets to reopen, the latest move to loosen restrictions ahead of June 1. Rehoboth Beach will also reopen its beach and boardwalk Friday for exercise.

Philadelphia officials are working with the School District to plan for the next school year, including whether schools will reopen as usual, Mayor Jim Kenney said Tuesday.

“As we get closer to September through the summer, we’ll have a clearer picture of what we’re able to do or not do,” Kenney said.

Even if Philadelphia schools do reopen — which will be determined by the number of COVID-19 cases in the city at the time — students and teachers should not expect to return to school operations as they were before the coronavirus pandemic, the mayor said.

“Everything we’re used to, we’ll have to get used to something different," Kenney said.

» READ MORE: Here’s how low Philly’s case count has to be for the state to consider reopening Southeastern Pa.

That includes a different Fourth of July celebration. City officials and festival organizers will announce the Wawa Welcome America performer lineup and other details — including whether there will be fireworks — on June 10.

"I have my idea on fireworks, but it’s not ripe enough to be announced yet," Kenney said. "But there will not be an outdoor location for people to gather."

The festival, which typically includes days of events leading up to July Fourth and culminates with a concert and fireworks show that draws thousands of residents and tourists to the Parkway, will instead include virtual events and a July Fourth concert that residents can watch on television, Kenney said.

Officials said the concert will be filmed at an indoor location in Philadelphia. Michael DelBene, president and chief executive officer of Welcome America Inc., said sponsors of the festival are still contributing, but the cost will be significantly less to produce a virtual event.

The festival joins a growing number of spring and summer traditions canceled or altered because of the pandemic. The Philadelphia Folk Festival this year will be an online-only event, organizers announced Tuesday, and will include tributes to longtime host Gene Shay and singer-songwriter John Prine, both of whom died of the coronavirus.

The Philadelphia Orchestra has dropped its six concerts at the Mann Center in Fairmount Park; the XPoNential Music Festival in Camden has been scrapped; and the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Fair and the Philadelphia Show of antiques, art, and design have gone online-only this year.

A different type of display soared over the Garden State on Tuesday: two New Jersey Air National Guard wings sent four military planes flying over hospitals, including Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital, coronavirus testing sites, state veteran homes, and temporary field hospitals in Atlantic City and Edison.

“Never underestimate the value of a morale boost when in combat," Brig. Gen. Jemal Beale, commander of the New Jersey National Guard, said in a statement before the flyover.

As part of the measures announced Tuesday, Murphy is directing $6 million in federal funding to Rutgers University so it can expand production of its saliva-based test from 10,000 to 50,000 per day within the next two months.

There are now 135 testing sites across New Jersey, Murphy said, and 50 CVS stores across the state will have the capacity to “swab and send” coronavirus tests for processing by the end of May.

Camden County officials on Tuesday urged all adult residents to get tested for the virus, announcing a new testing site at the Rite Aid in Barrington where people do not need to have symptoms to be tested.

After a spike in cases in Camden, the county was seeing a decrease in the infection rate, said Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr.

“We need you to keep staying at home. Let’s double down our efforts,” Cappelli said. “You’ve been great so far. Let’s keep it up.”

» READ MORE: Coronavirus cases in Camden have surged by 2,925% in less than three weeks

State health officials will also require staff and residents at New Jersey’s over 500 long-term-care facilities to be tested for the coronavirus by May 26, with a follow-up test done not more than one week later. Facilities will need to prove they can comply with this order by Tuesday.

Murphy also said he planned to ensure residents and staff at psychiatric hospitals, corrections facilities, and homeless shelters, along with migrant farmworkers, can get tested in the coming weeks.

New Jersey’s newly created Community Contact Tracing Corps — a program similar to the one established by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf — will pay tracers up to $25 an hour for up to 35 hours per week, Murphy said, indicating this effort would cost “millions of dollars.”

» FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered.

Murphy also signed an executive order requiring all local and county health departments to operate off the same data platform to coordinate contact tracing efforts statewide. Health officials will also partner with Rutgers School of Public Health to recruit contact-tracing workers.

"Even when COVID-19 recedes, we have to be prepared for its eventual return,” Murphy said. "Until there is a proven vaccine, or even a proven therapeutic, our best chance at catching and containing this virus is through testing and contact tracing.”

Staff writers Ellie Silverman, Rob Tornoe, Peter Dobrin, Erin McCarthy, Ellie Rushing, and Anna Orso, and staff photographer Tyger Williams, contributed to this article.