N.J. won’t allow indoor dining to resume | Coronavirus Newsletter
Plus, daily coronavirus cases in Philly are no longer dropping
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TL;DR: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced the state has postponed the start of indoor dining indefinitely. It was originally scheduled to resume Thursday. Murphy cited instances of “knucklehead behavior” at local outdoor restaurants among the reasons for the postponement. SEPTA Regional Rail is coming back, but many of its suburban riders are still working from home.
— Kelly O’Shea (@kelloshea, health@inquirer.com)
What you need to know:
📈 Philadelphia has added nearly 300 new coronavirus cases since Friday as health officials warn daily case counts in the city are no longer dropping.
🍺 Pennsylvania added more than 1,100 new coronavirus cases over the weekend. Health Secretary Rachel Levine said that uptick may be linked to an increase in young adults going to bars and not social distancing.
🎒 When Philadelphia schools reopen, more than half of city teachers said in a new survey that students should only physically attend on staggered weeks.
👵🏼 Pennsylvania released more detailed guidance over the weekend about how nursing and personal care homes could again allow visitors.
😷 Face mask vending machines are being installed this week at Suburban Station, one of SEPTA’s busiest transit hubs.
🏠 Pennsylvanians who are struggling to pay their rent and mortgages can apply for $175 million in federal funds to stay in their homes. The state made applications available Monday.
📰 What’s going on in your county? We organized recent coverage of the coronavirus pandemic by local counties mentioned in the stories to make it easier for you to find the info you care about.
Local coronavirus cases
📈 The coronavirus has swept across the Philadelphia region and cases continue to mount. The Inquirer and Spotlight PA are compiling geographic data on tests conducted, cases confirmed, and deaths caused by the virus. Track the spread here.
New Jersey is postponing the start of indoor dining indefinitely, with Gov. Phil Murphy citing trends in other states as well as instances of “knucklehead behavior” at local outdoor restaurants. Indoor dining was scheduled to resume in the state on Thursday. Murphy also warned that N.J. was “losing ground” in terms of declining numbers of new cases and hospitalizations, citing data that shows the state has slipped in several metrics since mid-June.
Regional Rail began its glacial return to more frequent service Monday, my colleague Patricia Madej reports. Riders can expect hourly weekday service on most lines, while the Airport and Paoli/Thorndale Lines will run every half hour. But the timeline for its return to “normal” schedules hasn’t been set. Much will depend on businesses’ reopening plans and the suburban workers who discovered the practicalities of working from home. Read more here.
Helpful resources
What are the first symptoms of the coronavirus?
How to protect yourself against the coronavirus as gyms reopen.
Need to defuse an argument over masks or personal space? Conflict-resolution experts share advice.
Not sure how to make sense of medical studies? We created a guide for you.
Have another question? Our reporters have tracked down answers.
You got this: Wedding planning in a pandemic
Wedding season has resumed after three months, with some couples sliding their dates into the summer and fall while many others put off the big day to 2021. Behind the scenes, a group of caterers, photographers, entertainment companies, and other vendors spent the quarantine creating safety plans to satisfy guidelines. My colleague Mike Klein spoke with the owners of three of the region’s largest catering companies about their new approach to wedding planning.
💵 A Philly judge has created a program to help small businesses reopen and negotiate their debt with creditors.
🥱 How Philly area therapists have adapted to working from home and processing their own feelings about the pandemic and civil unrest.
😃 My colleague Harold Brubaker followed two intellectually disabled twentysomethings as they ventured out for the first time since coronavirus shutdowns.
Have a social distancing tip or question to share? Let us know at health@inquirer.com and your input might be featured in a future edition of this newsletter.
What we’re paying attention to
Philadelphia Magazine takes a heartwarming look at how the coronavirus shutdown rekindled our appreciation of friendship.
Since the start of the pandemic, rumors, misinformation and outright falsehoods — some intentionally propagated — have flourished in the cauldron of confusion about the coronavirus, Kaiser Health News writes.
One particular coronavirus mutation has taken over the world, The Washington Post reports. Now scientists are trying to understand why.
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