UPDATE: All N.J. public and private schools ordered to shut down by Wednesday

Gov. Phil Murphy strongly suggested Monday that New Jerseyans should not leave their homes between 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The only exceptions, according to the governor’s recommendation, would be emergency or essential travel.

Though it’s not an order under Murphy’s declaration of a state of emergency and though he stopped short of calling it a mandated curfew, the governor said he is “strongly discouraging non-essential travel.” The measure was announced during a joint conference call with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont.

The governors also jointly announced all movie theaters, gyms, and casinos in the three states will be ordered closed at 8 p.m. Monday and will remain closed until further notice. Also, bars and restaurants will only serve take-out food for the foreseeable future.

“We want everybody home — not out,” Murphy said.

“We’re gonna get through this," he added. "We’re gonna get through this as one family.”

The governors are also banning all public gatherings of 50 people or more in all three states, mirroring a recommendation by the federal Centers for Disease Control on Sunday night.

Murphy did not specify what “non-essential" travel means.

“You’ve got to use your judgement and your common sense,” he said during a news conference in Trenton on Monday afternoon.

But he did say people who work have to travel because they are emergency workers, work in the health-care industry, or have a sick family member can be on the roads.

“Unless you need to be out, we want you to be at home,” the governor added.

The move comes after Murphy promised “more draconian steps” to fight the virus would be announced in the coming days and weeks during a Sunday radio interview — including a statewide curfew.

“The curfew is probably, of the two, is probably the more immediate one under consideration," Murphy told WBLS on Sunday.

He also added state officials will “inevitably” shut down all of the state’s public schools.

On Sunday, Murphy said he was bothered to learn from friends over the weekend about Asbury Park’s overflowing pubs, not far from his Middletown home.

“I saw too many videos last night of packed bars, people passing bottles around, drinking from the same bottle,” the governor told reporters during a telephone briefing Sunday afternoon when asked about crowded restaurants and parks despite the pandemic.

Hoboken was the first city to enact a curfew.

Also, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, ordered all bars and restaurants to no longer allow food to be served inside the establishments — only takeout is permitted.

“If a bar does not currently offer food, they will no longer be permitted to operate and are no longer permitted to serve alcohol, effective March 15,” Bhalla said in a statement Saturday. “According to (the Office of Emergency Management), any bar or restaurant establishment that currently offers food service will be permitted to conduct food takeout and food delivery service only.”

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

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

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