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Democratic New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy told "The Story" Tuesday that the state and its regional neighbors must "break the back" of the coronavirus pandemic before determining when and whether life can return to normal.

"The great news is through all the stay-at-home -- and you know this because you live here -- the aggressive stay-at-home policies that we put into place early, it looks like it's beginning to flatten that curve," Murphy told host Martha MacCallum, adding that the scientific models he looks at show the Garden State is likely to reach its peak within the next two to three weeks.

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Earlier Tuesday, Murphy ordered all state parks closed and extended the state's public health emergency through early May. He also told MacCallum that he would reach a decision about whether to keep schools closed for the rest of the academic year by April 17.

"There's a group of states here that are packed in tight together," Murphy said, alluding to his recently formed partnership with the Democratic governors of Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. "The fact of the matter is, if we do it as a region and not just a one-off state we will have a much more effective set of strategies and results."

Earlier Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters he, Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont had discussed a regional plan to lift restrictions on economic activity in the tri-state area, but stressed the timing of such a move would "come down to testing" and lifting the restrictions would not be "a light switch."

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When MacCallum asked Murphy whether the governor foresaw schools opening in the fall, Murphy said, "I hope so," but added that he couldn't be sure.

"We need to have a whole health care infrastructure in place that frankly we haven't had in our country," Murphy said.