Wildwood mayor postpones weekly fireworks due to COVID-19

WILDWOOD, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Officials say weekly fireworks in Wildwood, New Jersey will not go on as planned -- for now.

On Tuesday, Mayor Pete Byron announced the decision to postpone the Friday night fireworks for the time being.

He said no one wants the fireworks more than he does, but he simply can't have them in a way that can guarantee public safety.

"Unfortunately, many feel that social distancing and masks are arbitrary rather than lifesaving. If we are going to do this, we have to do it right - do it in a way that we can protect the most valuable part of Wildwood which is people," said Byron.

"We simply cannot produce the fireworks in a way that can guarantee public safety, and until we can, it is our duty to examine further possibilities as well as the facts," added Steve Mikulski, Wildwood's commissioner of public safety.

On Tuesday, Governor Phil Murphy announced 310 new COVID-19 cases, pushing to a statewide total of 173,878. A total of 13,425 people have died from the virus.