Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora imposes watered-down curfew

TRENTON – The curfew is being eased.

Mayor Reed Gusciora’s stay-at-home restrictions in the capital city will be slightly relaxed effective Monday, May 11.

Gusciora imposed a strict curfew several weeks ago requiring essential businesses to be closed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and requiring all individuals within city limits to refrain from going outside between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The mayor established the curfew on April 6 to control rising violence in the city during the times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some members of the community criticized the mayor’s curfew imposition and questioned whether he had the power to institute a stay-at-home policy that conflicted with Gov. Phil Murphy’s public health emergency orders.

The mayor’s office on Saturday announced a less-stringent curfew will be enforced from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. beginning Monday and that drive-thru establishments and food delivery services will be permitted to be open until 10 p.m.

This newly watered-down curfew has several exceptions to the rule, allowing health care workers, government employees, caregivers and individuals seeking medical attention to roam out and about during the late-night and early morning hours.

New Jersey as of Saturday had more than 137,000 total confirmed cases of COVID-19, a highly contagious respiratory disease that has killed at least 9,116 Garden State residents to date, data show.

Locally, there are 5,233 Mercer County residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 330 county residents have died from novel coronavirus complications, according to data released Saturday.

“As we continue to follow the science,” Gov. Phil Murphy said Saturday at his daily coronavirus press briefing, “we know that it is just a matter of time before – together – we defeat COVID-19.”

Within the 12 municipalities of Mercer County, the city of Trenton has the most COVID-19 cases.

The city as of Friday morning had 1,773 total cases of COVID-19; Hamilton Township as of Saturday afternoon had 1,121 total positive cases. Every other municipality in Mercer County has well under 1,000 total confirmed cases, with East Windsor coming in third with 482 total cases as of Friday morning, data show.