The governor announced that the statewide school and day care mask mandate would be lifted on Monday and the statewide public health emergency would come to an end.
Over the last two years, Murphy has given 257 COVID updates on the state's progress throughout the pandemic.
He said the anniversary is the right time to end the in-person briefings. Even as the briefings end, Murphy said the state will continue to provide updated numbers online and via social media. Before the end of the update, Murphy paid tribute to the more than 30,000 New Jerseyans who have died of COVID.
HIs voice cracked with emotion as he recalled honoring 646 of them during his briefings over the last two years. "I have called each and every one of their families, speaking with well more than 1,000 family members," Murphy said."They told me stories and brought me in on inside family stories and jokes, some calls were lighthearted and we laughed together over happy memories and many were brutal and somber and we cried together over what had been lost. And all are forever in my memory and our memory. We honor them still.