On April 9, 2020, Governor Murphy issued Executive Order 120 rescheduling the primary election until July 7 and Executive Order 122 ending all non-essential construction projects and imposing additional mitigation requirements on essential retail businesses and industries to limit the spread of COVID-19.  This follows the extension of the state of emergency done by Executive Order 119 on April 8.

Essential retail businesses must adopt policies that includes: Requiring workers and customers to wear cloth face coverings while on the premises, except where doing so would inhibit that individual’s health or where the individual is under two years of age, and require workers to wear gloves when in contact with customers or goods. Businesses must provide, at their expense, such face coverings and gloves for their employees. If a customer refuses to wear a cloth face covering for non-medical reasons and if such covering cannot be provided to the individual by the business at the point of entry, then the business must decline entry to the individual, unless the business is providing medication, medical supplies, or food, in which case the business policy should provide alternate methods of pickup and/or delivery of such goods. Nothing in the stated policy should prevent workers or customers from wearing a surgical-grade mask or other more protective face covering if the individual is already in possession of such equipment, or if the business is otherwise required to provide such worker with more protective equipment due to the nature of the work involved. Where an individual declines to wear a face covering on store premises due to a medical condition that inhibits such usage, neither the essential retail business nor its staff shall require the individual to produce medical documentation verifying the stated condition.

There are further requirements for both retail and other essential businesses in EO-122

Essential construction projects are defined in the order as: a. Projects necessary for the delivery of health care services, including but not limited to hospitals, other health care facilities, and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities; b. Transportation projects, including roads, bridges, and mass transit facilities or physical infrastructure, including work done at airports or seaports; c. Utility projects, including those necessary for energy and electricity production and transmission, and any decommissioning of 8 facilities used for electricity generation; d. Residential projects that are exclusively designated as affordable housing; e. Projects involving pre-K-12 schools, including but not limited to projects in Schools Development Authority districts, and projects involving higher education facilities; f. Projects already underway involving individual single-family homes, or an individual apartment unit where an individual already resides, with a construction crew of 5 or fewer individuals. This includes additions to single-family homes such as solar panels; g. Projects already underway involving a residential unit for which a tenant or buyer has already entered into a legally binding agreement to occupy the unit by a certain date, and construction is necessary to ensure the unit’s availability by that date; h. Projects involving facilities at which any one or more of the following takes place: the manufacture, distribution, storage, or servicing of goods or products that are sold by online retail businesses or essential retail businesses, as defined by Executive Order No. 107 (2020) and subsequent Administrative Orders adopted pursuant to that Order; i. Projects involving data centers or facilities that are critical to a business’s ability to function; j. Projects necessary for the delivery of essential social services, including homeless shelters;  k. Any project necessary to support law enforcement agencies or first responder units in their response to the COVID-19 emergency; l. Any project that is ordered or contracted for by Federal, State, county, or municipal government, or any project that must be completed to meet a deadline established by the Federal government; m. Any work on a non-essential construction project that is required to physically secure the site of the project, ensure the structural integrity of any buildings on the site, abate any hazards that would exist on the site if the construction were to remain in its current condition, remediate a site, or otherwise ensure that the site and any buildings therein are appropriately protected and safe during the suspension of the project; and n. Any emergency repairs necessary to ensure the health and safety of residents.