According to a new poll.

The Monmouth University poll released on Thursday morning found that just 1 in 3 adult residents (34%) support the widespread reinstallation of masks and social distancing restrictions, while 64% oppose it.

That’s down from September, when 6 in 10 voters backed the return of the measures. Support fell among all partisan groups, although the biggest drop came from Democrats, with 50% backing the return of restrictions, down from 89% in September.

Murphy lifted most of the state’s remaining coronavirus restrictions — including the statewide mask mandate — last month. And while Philadelphia is set to reinstate an indoor mask mandate on Monday as coronavirus cases rise again, Murphy said this week he would be “shocked” if neighboring New Jersey took the same step. He cited how “we are nowhere near the levels we were at” when it comes to COVID-19 numbers.

Thursday’s poll also found that less than half (45%) of residents support requiring proof of a COVID-19 vaccination at work, while 52% oppose such a mandate. The partisan gap on the issue is wide, with 72% of Democrats but only 17% of Republicans supporting him.

The New Jersey numbers are similar to a national poll conducted by Monmouth last month.

Meanwhile, 1 in 4 New Jerseyans (23%) are very concerned about a family member becoming seriously ill from the coronavirus outbreak – up from around 4 in 10 throughout the year and 6 out of 10 during the first months of the pandemic.

About half of adults say they have COVID-19 or think they have had the virus at some point, including 38% who say they have actually tested positive. Both findings are identical to the results of the recent Monmouth National Poll.

This all comes as state and national officials say the pandemic has moved into a new phase, thanks to vaccinations, natural immunity and better knowledge of how to treat the coronavirus. While the numbers are rising in the state, they aren’t nearly as bad as the winter surge driven by the omicron variant.

“There’s a combination of factors at play here,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, of the survey results. “The delta variant wasn’t as bad as expected, while the omicron surge made infection seem inevitable. New Jerseyans are ready to boost, but maybe that’s the best they can do against future waves.

Meanwhile, 67% of New Jerseyans say Murphy has done a good job handling the pandemic, while 25% say he has done a poor job. Its pandemic rate has never fallen below 60% in Monmouth polls.

Just over half of the state (53%) says New Jersey — home to more than 33,000 COVID-19 deaths — has done a better job than other states responding to COVID-19, while 14% say he did worse and 31% say he did about the same. This is similar to the Monmouth polls taken last year.

“Murphy’s handling of the pandemic has always been a source of strength in public opinion about the governor,” Murphy said. “It just wasn’t the most important issue when voters went to the polls last November.”

Murphy won a second term in the November election, but by a narrower margin than expected.

His high ratings in the polls come despite a number of criticisms of his handling of the pandemic, particularly from Republicans. This includes the discharge of COVID-19 patients to nursing homes – albeit in isolated parts of homes – and the huge gridlock at the state Department of Labor that has left many people waiting for weeks, even months, to receive unemployment benefits. Critics also blame his lockdowns for shutting down about a third of the state’s small businesses.

The survey was conducted by telephone from March 31 to April 4 among 802 New Jersey adults. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

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Brent Johnson can be attached to [email protected]. Follow him on @johnsb01.