‘Not out of the woods yet’: Gov. Murphy says state seeing 'small spikes' in COVID-19 from travelers

Gov. Phil Murphy says New Jersey is beginning to see “small spikes” in COVID-19 infection from people returning from trips to places such as South Carolina and Florida.

The governor said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the “most recent and most prevalent” example was a wedding in Myrtle Beach, from which New Jersey residents returned with the virus, but “we’ve got other cases that we’re running down.”

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"We're already seeing a little of that,” says Gov. Murphy. “It’s less because of folks being on the beach and looking at fireworks. We've begun to open up the state slowly, but surely, we knew there was some risk. It’s partly that, its' coming back to New Jersey from hot spots, so we're not out of the woods yet without any question."

The governor said he believes a national strategy is needed, and wearing a mask should be “a national requirement” -- while some parts of the country do not require masks in public.

The news also comes after Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla said Saturday 13 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two days - marking the city's highest two-day total since mid-May. He said the people who tested positive have recently traveled, and that 12 out of 13 had traveled to states on New Jersey's quarantine list.

Cases are rising in the U.S., with places like Houston fearing hospitals could be over-capacity. For New Jersey, the concern is keeping the numbers from going back up.

AP wire services helped contribute to this report.