It’s one of the busiest times of the year for New Jersey’s malls, with Black Friday around the corner and plenty of holiday gifts on the shelves. But with the second wave of the coronavirus upon us, it’s possible Gov. Phil Murphy will take steps to shut them down like he did in the spring.
He shuttered malls March 17 as part of sweeping restrictions to flatten the curve when the virus first struck New Jersey. He eventually let stores within the malls do curbside pickup, but it wasn’t until June 29 that their indoor areas could open.
Only four and a half months later, as malls and their stores are gearing up for the busy season, experts have concerns about the virus spreading among shoppers and workers.
The state has seen its seven-day average for new positive tests rise to 3,892 — up 29% from a week ago and 278% from a month earlier. Hospitalizations on Friday remained over 2,500, though still much lower than the peak in the spring of roughly 8,000 patients.
We asked three health experts whether it was smart to keep malls open, with the holiday shopping season just around the corner. Here’s what they had to say.
D. Brian Nichols, virologist and assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Seton Hall University:
Nichols said a shutdown is still the best way to really control the spread of the virus in malls, but he sympathizes with the business owners who are trying to recover from an already awful year. Losing the holiday shopping revenue could be disastrous.
“So without a complete shutdown, the next best thing is to limit the number of people inside as much as we can, which is still going to cut into their profits,” he said.
Standing in line waiting to get into Foot Locker at Woodbridge Center Mall which opened the indoor section of the mall for the first time since closing due to the coronavirus, in Woodbridge, N.J. June, 29, 2020 Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for
He said he’s not confident many mall stores are really focused on that and have a dedicated employee who knows the capacity limit and is making people wait outside if they hit the maximum number.
He said the best thing to do is shop online or do curbside pickup, because even with limited capacity in stores, indoors spaces are just riskier.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people will do their Christmas shopping and go out into the areas and they can pick up the virus from people who have it. They may not know that they have it,” he said. “So it’s troubling.”
Bojana Beric-Stojšíc, director of the Master of Public Health program at Fairleigh Dickinson University:
Beric-Stojšíc thinks malls should be allowed to stay open as long as there are numerous mitigation methods, including carefully-monitored capacity limits and good ventilation. But she said it cannot be a traditional Christmas shopping season at the mall.
“Lately, I’ve seen in the mall, the parking is completely full. So that’s not a good sign,” she said.
“This is a different year. So whatever we are doing, we have to do differently. I finished my Christmas shopping online. Most people can do that,” she said.
As for the usual Christmasy mall activities with Santa, she said they can probably “get creative” with an outdoor alternative. And any big Black Friday sales or rushes are right out.
“Black Friday is coming and it’s just a nightmare when I think about it,” she said. The pictures from past years of people crowding department store doors and flooding the stores for sales just can’t be recreated. “It’s unacceptable in my mind.”
In this photo from 2018, Black Friday shoppers pack the Menlo Park Mall in Edison. (Jeff Granit | For NJ Advance Media)Jeff Granit | For NJ Advance Med
Bindu Balani, infectious disease doctor at Hackensack University Medical Center and faculty physician at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine:
Balani said that she wouldn’t close malls completely, because people can still feel OK going into stores with their masks, social distancing and following capacity limits.
“Going into the stores for a few minutes, in and out,” she said.
The much greater problem would be people congregating in the malls or meeting friends there, exhaling droplets into the air that are less likely to dissipate because they’re indoors.
“I think it’s very important to have the people not sit around in common areas,” she said. “Sitting around talking loudly or sitting around eating in the food court or whatever, I think that probably has more of a risk.”
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Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
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