Huntington Beach images from AP & Getty
SACRAMENTO — California will shut down state and local beaches in Orange County starting Friday to prevent massive crowds that state officials worry could threaten their progress containing the spread of the coronavirus.
Reports circulated earlier that the shutdown would apply to beaches and state parks up and down California, but that turned out not to be the case.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that Orange County was one of the top counties in the state for coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
“Orange County has been on our list of health concern,” he said at a news conference. “I hope it’s just a very short-term adjustment.”
He said he was ordering a “hard close” of Orange County beaches.
Some Southern California beaches drew large crowds during a heat wave last weekend, prompting a scolding from Newsom on Monday.
The governor said crowded beaches in Orange and Ventura counties were an example of “what not to do” as the state continues efforts to stop the spread of the virus with the goal of eventually easing stay-at-home measures.
“This virus doesn’t take the weekends off. This virus doesn’t go home because it’s a beautiful, sunny day around our coasts,” Newsom said.
Facing increasing pressure to begin loosening restrictions on public life, Newsom this week said he was “just a few weeks away” from making significant modifications to the stay-at-home order and unveiled a plan for how he would phase in the reopening of businesses and schools. But he warned that those changes depended on ongoing social distancing and other behavior that would not cause a spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, which have stabilized in California in recent weeks.
Local officials in Orange County have pushed back on the notion that beaches were overcrowded or that most vistors were not observing social-distancing guidelines. Newport Beach officials voted Tuesday not to close their beaches, despite Newsom’s criticism. Days later, Laguna Beach approved a plan to reopen its beaches on weekday mornings.
Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner tweeted Wednesday evening that while Newsom may have the power to close beaches there, it was “not wise to do so.” Comment on this story below.
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