Two-thirds of New Jersey residents support keeping limits on gatherings, restrictions on indoor restaurant dining and other steps to curb the spread of the coronavirus until a vaccine is available, a new polls shows.
The Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released Tuesday found 66% said the state should continue restrictions until a vaccine is available, with just 29% favoring a return to normal despite the risks. More than three-fourths, 77%, supported requiring everyone to wear a mask in public places, with just 20% saying it should be voluntary.
“There’s scant evidence in New Jersey that the public is looking for a speedy return to normal as long as a treatment or a vaccine remain out of reach,” said political science professor Krista Jenkins, director of the FDU poll. “It looks like the heavy toll the virus took early on in the pandemic has left state residents leery of letting down their guard.”
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Support for continuing the restrictions came from 66% of self-identified independents, 84 percent of Democrats, 62% of men, 70% of women, and at least 63% from each of the state’s three regions, North, Central and South.
Only Republicans, at 53%, favored returning to normal, mirroring President Donald Trump’s call to reopen the economy even as coronavirus cases continue to spike nationally.
State Republicans have expressed the same views, criticizing Gov. Phil Murphy for his continued restrictions even as New Jersey, once the second-hardest hit state, saw a sharp decline after its April peak and has sought to prevent a new outbreak of COVID-19.
“The broad restrictions that Gov. Murphy has placed on indoor dining makes little sense when hospitalization for COVID cases have dropped 90% since April,” said state Sen. Mike Testa, R-Cumberland. “His ill-conceived reversal may lead some mom-and-pop restaurants on Main Streets across New Jersey to close their doors forever.”
Murphy said at Monday’s coronavirus press briefing that the data didn’t justify a return to indoor gatherings in bars or restaurants.
“I hope we get to both at some point, but we’re sufficiently concerned. We’re not there yet,” he said. “We want to get indoors, trust me. believe me, we do. But we got to do it right at the right moment in the right configuration.”
The poll of 809 New Jersey adults was conducted June 18-30 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com.