California orders closure of Orange County beaches after crowds gather on its shores

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday that beaches in Orange County will be temporarily closed after tens of thousands of people neglected social distancing measures as they gathered in the county last weekend.
• The incident urged the governor to close all beaches and state parks on Thursday, but some local officials, including San Diego Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Greg Cox appealed, arguing that they reopen with safety measures.
• California had 46,500 confirmed cases and 1,887 deaths caused by COVID-19.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that beaches in Orange County would be temporarily closed after a weekend jampacks in public areas, despite social distancing measures.

Last weekend, tens of thousands of people gathered in Orange County, approximately 90,000 in New Port Beach, as parts of California already had its first major heatwave of the year.

The incident had “raised alarm bells” among health officials, which compelled the governor to apply beach closure to Orange County. The original plan was to close all public beaches and state parks this weekend.

“We’re going to have a temporary pause on the beaches [in Orange County]… If we can get some framework and guidelines to get this right, we can open very quickly. We got to make sure we get this right,” said Newsom, who labeled himself as a “beach advocate.”

Newsom made the decision just a day after the Newport Beach City Council voted to keep its public areas open.

While Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner said in a statement on Wednesday that Newsom’s move was in light of his authority, he argued that it was an “overreaction” which could “undermine that cooperative attitude and our collective efforts to fight the disease, based on the best available medical information.”

A memo sent to state police chiefs and obtained by some news agencies said that the behavior in Orange County urged the governor to order closures of every beach and state park on Thursday — which some local officials, including San Diego Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Greg Cox, appealed to.

Jacob and Cox wrote a letter to Newsom earlier Thursday to argue that the entire state should not be affected by what happened in Orange County. The two said their county had safely reopened its beaches with certain restrictions.

Ventura County, an area about 70 miles north of Los Angeles, resumed operations but with firm restrictions. Beaches in Los Angeles County have remained closed.

In mid-March, Newsom issued a stay-at-home order, making him among the first governors who mandated home quarantines to slow the coronavirus spread. California had 46,500 confirmed cases and 1,887 deaths caused by COVID-19, as reported by the state’s health department. While the curve in hospitalizations in the state was flattening, the governor said on Thursday that there’s no decline yet.

Source: The Hill