ASBURY PARK, NJ – Asbury Park officials have announced they intend to curb exposure to the COVID-19 virus by implementing a citywide mask mandate that affects public buildings and private businesses. The city joins a growing list of New Jersey towns implementing Phil Murphy-style pandemic mandates within their borders.
All visitors and customers must wear a facemask regardless of their vaccine status, booster status or natural immunity status as those vaccines have proven ineffective in stopping the spread of the omicron variant of the virus.
Effective Friday, January 7, 2022 at 12pm, the City of Asbury Park’s Emergency Management Coordinator has declared an indoor mask mandate within the City of Asbury Park due to the high rate of transmission of the Covid-19 Omicron variant. The Executive Order will be in effect until further notice. Children under the age of 3 will be exempt from the mandate.Masks will be required in all indoor public settings such as government facilities, restaurants, bars, gyms, dance studios, recreation facilities, retail stores, cafes, supermarkets, convenience stores places of worship, commercial establishments, salons, barbershops, banks, healthcare facilities, and hotels.
Employees and patrons of these facilities must wear a facemask at all times except when actively eating or drinking or when socially distanced at least six feet apart from all others for an extended period of time, such as in an office setting when seated at desks; when performing for an audience; or when conducting worship services.
“As Mayor & Council, our number one priority is the health and safety of our community,” said Mayor John Moor, “By having more people wear masks indoors, we hope to reduce the spread and keep people out of hospitals to minimize the strain on our healthcare system and potentially save lives. Our goal is to shorten the time it will take to get back to some kind of normalcy without negatively impacting our local businesses and residents in their daily lives.”