The Philly region won’t suffer its coronavirus summer without beaches as New Jersey opens the sand

New Jersey beaches can reopen in time for Memorial Day — with social distancing measures in place, Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday.

The executive order offered one of the first rays of light to a region worried about a shut-in summer due to the coronavirus pandemic, but drew mixed reviews from the local officials who Murphy said will be responsible for limiting beach capacity and ensuring compliance with social distancing.

Delaware, too, said its beaches would reopen with restrictions before the holiday weekend, though state police will continue stopping drivers with out-of-state license plates to enforce restrictions on travel into the state.

Both states’ orders go into effect May 22. Murphy said New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, and New York were coordinating on beach reopening protocols.

“The Jersey Shore, after all, is where memories are made,” Murphy said Thursday. “The last thing any of us wanted was a summertime down the Shore to be a memory.”

In Pennsylvania, the conversation about reopening continued, as Gov. Tom Wolf said he would announce the third round of counties that will move to the “yellow” phase of reopening on Friday, but had not yet determined which counties they would be.

Last week, the first 24 counties moved to the yellow phase, and on Friday, 13 more counties, including Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, are entering that first recovery stage. It’s too early to say whether any of the 24 were seeing new virus outbreaks as a result of partial reopening, state Health Secretary Rachel Levine said Thursday.

Visiting the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, where he toured the warehouse of a surgical gown manufacturer near Allentown, President Donald Trump said, “We have to get your governor of Pennsylvania to start opening up a little bit.” Wolf didn’t address the president’s visit directly, but told reporters on a call Thursday afternoon that “we can’t afford to politicize this.”

His administration is using a number of metrics to decide on moving counties from the “red” to the “yellow” phase, including hospitalizations and testing capacity. One of the benchmarks requires fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 residents over the course of a two-week period.

A handful of counties in northern and south-central Pennsylvania have recently met that benchmark but remain in the red phase, figures compiled by The Inquirer show. But Southeastern Pennsylvania counties remain well above it. Over the last two weeks, Philadelphia has seen almost 300 new cases per 100,000 residents. The closest in Southeastern Pennsylvania is Chester County, which over the last two weeks still saw more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents.

Bucks County officials said Wolf’s office told them the county was “rapidly moving” toward entering the yellow phase of reopening, and said more information would come within a week.

The commissioners said they did not intend to defy Wolf’s orders. At a virtual meeting over the weekend, they requested a specific reopening date as well as the Wolf administration’s consideration of a modified metric that would separate out coronavirus cases at care facilities.

Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo, a Republican, said he’d been given some indication the administration “will change or take another look at the metrics they put out there for reopening and maybe have a little flexibility.”

But Wolf said he was “baffled” by that characterization and that there had been no conversations about changing the benchmarks.

“I think I would know about this if we were actually changing the criteria. We’re not,” Wolf said. “We are looking to do a better job of making the criteria we use public and trying to find better ways to do that.”

» FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered.

In Philadelphia, more than 1,000 people have died of the coronavirus, Mayor Jim Kenney announced Thursday. But Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said the city was continuing to see progress in a decline of the virus, and cited a Drexel University study that estimated the city’s stay-at-home order and other measures could have saved 6,200 lives.

“If there's any consolation, the number of new deaths per day is clearly downward,” Farley said. “It’s very clear that the actions we are taking are preventing many, many deaths.”

Pennsylvania officials reported 913 confirmed coronavirus cases Thursday for a total of 59,636. They reported 44 deaths overnight, plus 231 deaths from the past several weeks tallied during continued data reconciliation with local health departments, for 4,218 total deaths.

Pennsylvania parents should continue to take their children to regular doctors visits despite fears about the coronavirus, Levine said, noting pediatricians’ concerns about a decline in checkups.

“Vaccines are a great way to protect yourself and protect your family from dangerous, life-threatening diseases,” Levine said. “We want to make sure we don’t have a secondary health crisis because of a delay in vaccinations.”

Students will need to be up-to-date on immunizations for the state’s planned return to school in the fall. And if children don’t get vaccinated, they also risk infecting the broader community.

Levine urged any Pennsylvanians who decide to go to the Jersey Shore to practice social distancing, wear a mask, and wash and sanitize hands frequently. She declined to comment on Murphy’s decision but said she would “be concerned” about traveling down the Shore.

As of Thursday, 142,704 New Jerseyans had tested positive for the coronavirus, an increase of 1,216 from Wednesday, Murphy said. He reported 244 deaths, bringing the toll to 9,946. Murphy also said 50 staffers from the Department of Veterans Affairs will be deployed to long-term care facilities with outbreaks.

Under Murphy’s order reopening beaches, boardwalk restaurants will still be required to operate for delivery and take-out only, though many had been hoping for some limited outdoor seating. Amusement parks, playgrounds, and visitor centers will remain closed.

Beach showers, changing areas, and restrooms will open. The order will also reopen restrooms at parks as early as Saturday, the governor said.

Some local officials were disappointed that Murphy’s order did not ease restrictions further, while others remained concerned about crowds and enforcement. Many were celebrating.

“It is fabulous news about the beaches,” said Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard C. Desiderio, appearing with Murphy on Thursday. “I can’t tell you how happy we are in Cape May County and, I’m sure, across the 127 miles of beaches in New Jersey.”

Murphy recommended beach-goers wear masks, but it is not required by the executive order.

The governor said he will leave it to local officials to determine beach capacity and how to enforce it. Some mayors have asked Murphy if the state would provide additional personnel to help enforce these restrictions. Murphy only said Thursday that people who were non-compliant would “be dealt with.”

But State Police Col. Patrick J. Callahan said he was working to get new Class 2 officers — who typically help patrol Shore towns in the summer — trained and deployed to bolster enforcement.

Ventnor Mayor Beth Holtzman said her city’s beaches would remain restricted to walking and exercising only, and the Boardwalk would be closed. Ventnor, Margate, and Longport plan to jointly decide when to open their beaches to sunbathing and swimming, she said.

“The Boardwalk’s not going to be open for Memorial Day.... I think we’ll take it slow,” Holtzman said. “I made it loud and clear, I’m begging the state: Assist us to help enforce the executive order. We do not have the staffing.”

North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello said he was disappointed Murphy did not lift restrictions on businesses and restaurants or clear the way for outdoor seating.

“We are heading toward the economic collapse of the Jersey Shore economy,” Rosenello said. “By his announcing that the Jersey Shore is open and inviting people down here, but still restricting restaurants, I think he’s going to create a food distribution issue.”

Murphy said he would continue to evaluate the restrictions. “This is not a life sentence,” he said.

Walking onto the Ventnor beach Thursday afternoon, Anthony Faiola of Cherry Hill said he was happy about the governor’s announcement and planned to make the best of this summer.

After all, he said, "It beats having the beach closed."

Accompanied by his wife, Meghan, three of their four children, two dogs, and a football, Faiola said the family would attempt to abide by social distancing requirements.

“We’ll be smart about it,” Faiola said. "Whatever it takes, we’ll do it.”

Staff writers Pranshu Verma, Rob Tornoe, Sean Collins Walsh, and Jonathan Tamari contributed to this article.