Merchantville encourages everyone in our community to protect themselves and others from COVID-19 by masking up. NJ DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) has launched a public awareness campaign that strongly encourages the public to "mask up" and keep their mouths and noses covered when visiting the state's parks, beaches, forests and other open spaces, especially where it is difficult to maintain a 6-foot distance from others. This Dropbox link contains print and social media downloads for anyone to use and post including "Beach" Mask Up!, "Open Space" Mask Up, "Risk" Mask Up! and "Trail" Mask Up! posters  and signs from the digital download center for New Jersey’s “Mask Up!” campaign. 

The NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development has begun to review unemployment claims exhausted since July 2019 for eligibility for federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), “Eligible claimants will begin being notified later this week to certify for benefits,” the agency said. “This process will continue for the next few weeks.” The benefit in question is the extra 13 weeks of federal benefits that was created as part of the CARES Act. Workers who had already received 24 weeks of regular benefits and those who are close to reaching that milestone have been waiting to see when the extra 13 weeks would kick in. The Labor website describes in detail what those who have exhausted their benefits should do to get the extra 13 weeks. As of last week, the agency has paid out $2.5 billion in unemployment benefits to more than 725,000 workers since the start of the coronavirus. About 1.1 million New Jerseyans have applied for benefits.

The expiration date for driver licenses, registration and inspections were extended again on May 18th. Gov. Phil Murphy and New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission Chief Administrator Sue Fulton announced that an additional extension will be implemented for the documents as the agency remains closed to due to their continuing efforts to mitigate COVID-19 and safeguard public health. All standard driver licenses, including permits, all vehicle registrations, vehicle inspections, temporary tags and veteran/Purple Heart placards that were set to expire between March 13 and May 31, have been extended to July 31. Documents expiring June 30 are extended two months to Aug. 31, and those expiring July 31 are extended to Sept. 30.

Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday outlined a multi-stage reopening plan for businesses, offices and activities ordered closed to slow the coronavirus outbreak. it's intended to execute a responsible and strategic economic restart to put New Jersey on the road back to recovery from COVID-19. The state has entered “Stage 1”, which allows for relaxed restrictions on low-risk activities, like enjoying parks, beaches and lakefronts, but calls for residents to “stay at home as much as possible.” Visit the NJ Covid-19 Information Hub for more questions and answers on "The Road Back"

The DRBA encourages motorists to wear a face mask as they pass through the cash lanes as the southbound toll plaza on the Delaware Memorial Bridge Twin Span reopen, effective at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, May 21st. To reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, all DMB toll operators will be required to wear a face mask and gloves while collecting cash tolls. The DRBA is also supplying its collectors with face shields and has installed protective Plexiglas ‘sneeze’ guards in the toll booths. In addition, Delaware Memorial Bridge toll booths will be sanitized between shifts and the toll shifts have been staggered to limit interaction/exposure among toll collectors. 

Gov. Murphy's Executive Order No. 147 will take effect on Friday, May 22nd at 6:00 a.m. allowing certain outdoor activities at recreational businesses, including archery ranges, batting cages, golf driving ranges, horseback riding, shooting ranges, and tennis clubs as well as community gardens to open with required social distancing measures in place. To limit physical interactions, the order requires outdoor recreational businesses that reopen to limit capacity to 10 people at one time and implement reasonable restrictions. Community gardens may reopen so long as they comply with the same restrictions implemented at parks under Executive Order No. 133. The order also relaxes four of the restrictions on golf courses, allowing them to expand tee-times to four players, allow the use of forecaddies, offer club and equipment rentals, and reopen restrooms with disinfecting and hygiene protocols in place.