Several aspects of legislation allowing for the termination of the Public Health Emergency effective as of July 4. On June 4, 2021, Governor Murphy signed A5820 enabling the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency that had been in place since March 9, 2020. Immediately following the signing of the legislation, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 244 (2021), ending the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Under the legislation, the majority of executive orders issued that relied on the existence of the Public Health Emergency expire as of July 4, 2021, with exceptions specified in the legislation.
Because Executive Order No. 192 (2020) is not specified in the legislation as continuing beyond July 4, 2021, masking, social distancing, and other health and safety protocols originally set forth in Executive Order No. 192 (2020) will no longer be mandatory across businesses and facilities, regardless if they are open to the public or not. Though these protocols are no longer required by the State, employers and entities overseeing worksites and other facilities are permitted to craft more restrictive policies that require masking and social distancing, and which continue the implementation of health and safety protocols.
