Non-essential businesses and indoor restaurant service to close at 8 p.m. Barbershops by appointment only.

All sports activities in the East Ward are canceled.

Mayor Ras J. Baraka announced Monday that the  city administration is taking strong measures to address the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Newark, after reporting on Sunday that the City had more cases than all other municipalities in Essex County combined.

These measures include the closing of non-essential businesses nightly at 8 p.m., requiring restaurants and eateries to end dining-in at the same time. Outdoor dining can remain open until 11 pm.  Beauty salons, nail salons, and barbershops to be open by appointment only, and gyms and health clubs to close for half an hour each hour for sanitizing.

All recreation centers for everything but school-related programs for essential employees are closing  and sports activities and open park practices and games in the East Ward are canceled.

The measures started yesterday, Tuesday, October 27. The City will  re-assess the situation after Tuesday, November 10, to determine the next steps.

Mayor Baraka shared that Newark will gain help from the State with access to rapid testing and more contact tracers, as well as a space for people to safely quarantine.

 “This is not the first time COVID-19 has threatened our city and its residents at this magnitude and once again, we will meet this challenge with determination and guided by data,” Mayor Baraka said. “We are Newark strong and can get through this together. We did it once before and we can do it again.”

“Until, and even after, a vaccine is made available to every Newarker, the most potent immunization we will have available is a decision to take personal responsibility to obey and model the recommendations that keep us all safe,” said Dr. Mark Wade, Director of Health and Community Wellness for the City of Newark. “All of us will need each other to get us through as individuals, neighborhoods, communities and a city, and to save the lives of those we love the most, each other!”

The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Newark as of Friday, October 23, was 10,041, with 673 deaths.

On Sunday, October 18, Newark reported a test positivity rate of 11.2 %, using a three-day rolling average, in comparison to New Jersey’s test positivity rate of 5.28%.

Based on testing information for Newark from October 11 to October 17, which counts each test, the city’s positivity rate is 11.8% and the highest rate has been determined to be in the East Ward (25.3% in zip code 07105). The city’s positivity rate has not been this high since the week ending May 23.