New Jersey governor Phil Murphy heckled by diners at restaurant over coronavirus guidelines

Mr Murphy will put Newark on lockdown and will asked residents not to leave their houses unless it is an emegency

Phil Murphy celebrates with his running mate, Lieutenant Governor-elect Sheila Oliver, after he was elected Governor of New Jersey in Asbury Park (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

New Jersey's Governor Phil Murphy was heckled by diners while eating with his family at a restaurant after advising the public to limit their Thanksgiving gatherings.

A pair of women approached him and told him "You're such a d***."

"You're having fun with your family and in the meantime you're having all other kind of bulls***going on," one of the women said.

Mr Murphy's son attempted to step in and defend his father, but the women lashed out at him as well.

He asked if they were drunk and pointed out one of them had a Donald Trump phone case.

"You go f*** yourself," one of them said in response.

Neither Mr Murphy or his wife responded to the women.

Mr Murphy recently appeared on "Good Morning America" to urge residents to limit their Thanksgiving gatherings to fewer than 10 people and to only visit their immediate family. He has imposed a lockdown of Newark beginning 25 November, asking residents not to leave their homes unless its an emergency.

"There's a huge amount of personal responsibility here, everybody has to do the right thing. We've got a vortex here; cold weather, people letting their hair down with fatigue and holiday after holiday," he said. "We're pleading with people — please God, do the right thing."

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As in other states where governors have asked residents to limit their Thanksgiving gatherings, there has been public pushback as well as pushback from law enforcement authorities.

One New Jersey police chief, Andrew Kudrick, said he would not enforce the rules unless an "egregious breach" occurred.

He told Fox News the rules were "draconian".

"I'm not going to have my police officers going knocking on doors and ruining somebody’s holiday just to check how many people are inside their house. It’s not happening," he said.

New Jersey — like the majority of the US — has seen significant spikes in coronavirus cases in recent weeks.

The average number of new cases the day Mr Murphy appeared on television was higher than the first-wave peak average number of cases in April.

Hospitalisations were also up to their highest levels since May, though they are still lower than the peak in April.