Time out for Orange County. Gavin Newsom closes its beaches to slow coronavirus spread
California is closing Orange County beaches in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday.
The decision was driven by crowds that flocked to those beaches over the weekend, apparently violating social distancing rules that people stay six feet away from others from different households, the Democratic governor said.
It’s too early to say if the crowds resulted in a spike in infections in Orange County, Newsom said. That’s partly because the state doesn’t have adequate “community surveillance” testing of people without symptoms to determine how widespread the disease is in a community, he said.
However, Orange County is in the top three or four counties in overall cases and in hospitalizations, he said.
Orange County lawmaker, state Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa, criticized the closures in a statement.
“The County hasn’t seen the ‘surge’ in its hospitals, and six weeks into this shelter-in-place order, the beach may be the best medicine,” he wrote. “We need to trust people. If our citizens exercise proper social distancing, then we should allow access to the beaches.”
Although people followed the rules at vast majority of beaches, large crowds in Orange County were “disturbing,” Newsom said. The closures will be temporary, and the beaches could be reopened “very, very quickly.” State parks and beaches outside of Orange County will remain open, Newsom said.
His announcement contradicted reports by several media outlets that all state beaches and parks would be closed. Those reports relied on a memo by the California Police Chiefs Association that said Newsom would close beaches and state parks starting Friday.
On Thursday, Newsom said his administration had talked with the Police Chiefs Association. But he said he never saw the memo, and that it did not reflect his thinking.
“We want you to see sunsets. We want you to enjoy activities outdoors,” Newsom said, encouraging people to visit California’s updated rules on social distancing while outside. What he doesn’t want is people congregating outside in large groups, he said.
Newsom has said anonymized cell phone tracking data the state is compiling and analyzing using artificial intelligence supports what photos of crowded beaches showed: Although most people are following stay-at-home orders, many are still traveling around.
If people continue to stay at home and hospitalization rates remain stable, rules will be loosened significantly in a matter of weeks, Newsom says. But crowds like those seen over the weekend could extend the stay-at-home order longer by increasing the spread of the virus and overwhelming hospitals.
“If you hold the line, we’re going to get through this,” Newsom said.
On Thursday, Newsom also announced a new interactive map to connect Californians with child care in their area that his administration created to prepare as businesses reopen and parents need to get back to work.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Time out for Orange County. Gavin Newsom closes its beaches to slow coronavirus spread."