Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday he’s extending the public-health emergency he declared in New Jersey over the coronavirus outbreak by 30 days.

Murphy declared both a state of emergency and a public-health emergency on March 9 as the pandemic was beginning to spread in New Jersey.

The state of emergency remains in place indefinitely, but the governor said the public-health emergency expires after 30 days. Thus, it was set to expire Wednesday.

The executive order he signed Tuesday will keep it in place until at least early May.

“We want to make sure this continues our current footing,” Murphy said at the Trenton War Memorial during his daily coronavirus press briefing.

The emergency orders came about two weeks before Murphy signed a separate order for New Jersey residents to stay at home and practice social distancing and for non-essential businesses to close. Those remain in place indefinitely.

Murphy said Tuesday this is “going to require many more weeks, at least, of us staying smart and staying at least 6 feet apart.” He said the state is “not even close” to lifting those restrictions.

“Everybody watching: Stay at home," Murphy said. "I hate to break people’s bubbles, but we’re just not close.”

The governor added that he spoke with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont about preparing a possible “regional approach” to testing, tracking, and reopening businesses and schools — but he stressed “we are not there yet.”

A state of emergency gives state authorities certain executive powers and safeguards to respond to a crisis. It also allows the state to receive federal aid.

A public-health emergency allows the governor to take action under the Emergency Health Powers Act. The order Murphy signed Tuesday extending it also “extends all actions taken by” any department of New Jersey’s executive branch in response to the virus, the governor’s office said.

New Jersey — a state of 9 million residents — now has at least 44,416 cases and at least 1,232 deaths, Murphy announced Tuesday.

That’s more than any U.S. state but New York and more than all but eight countries. Federal officials have identified New Jersey as a coronavirus “hotspot” in America.

Murphy said Monday that New Jersey could see its peak number of cases between April 19 and May 11, while the peak number of hospitalizations could come between April 10 and April 28. Officials said under a best-case scenario, the state’s total number of cases would peak at 86,000.

But that, officials said, is only if New Jerseyans continue practicing social distancing.

“We don’t need to, nor do we want to, lose any more members of our family,” Murphy said Tuesday. “The best way we can protect this New Jersey family is by social distancing.”

The governor has said the effects of the pandemic will likely “spill meaningfully into the summer.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post has been updated to clarify that Murphy extended the public health emergency. The state of emergency remains in place indefinitely.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

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