Gov. Phil Murphy says there are currently no plans to shut down restaurants across New Jersey, even though COVID-19 numbers, including hospitalizations and new cases, are trending up.  

Gov. Murphy said Monday there’s no evidence of waves of infections linked to indoor dining, so he is not ready to close restaurants down, even if New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo considers it. Employees at the Turning Point of Westfield are happy they continue to work, and customers are happy they can sit down inside for a nice meal. 

"I think it's important for the restaurants to stay open for jobs and for the economy,” says Andrew Cabrera, of Jersey City.

He believes the move to restrict dining could be catastrophic for small business owners. Tanaira Johnson, manager of Turning Point, recently moved to New Jersey all the way from Oregon after she says restaurant jobs dried up out there.

“They were doing take out only, if they were even able do that,” says Johnson. “A lot of the restaurants in Oregon are farm to table, so it's kind of impossible to do that."

Johnson says if Turning Point had to go back to just take out, it would survive thanks to a solid customer base, but obviously staying open is best. 

Murphy said for now, he’ll stick with a more strategic approach. There is no seating at bars and no indoor dining past 10 p.m. The New Jersey State Police have been shutting down businesses that do not comply.