The governor put the kibosh on the party. Photo: Herson Rodriguez
After a heat wave brought thousands of people to area beaches last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom enacted a hard closure of all Orange County beaches starting Friday, May 1. The governor reportedly sent a memo to police chiefs around the state so many expected him to close all California beaches. But he singled out Orange County today because of the lack of social distancing many media outlets reported last weekend.
“We’re going to have a temporary pause on the beaches [in Orange County],” Newsom said. “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.”
According to reports, some 90,000 people visited beaches in the Newport area last weekend. Newsom said that it “raised alarm bells” to government officials and medical experts trying to contain the disease. State health officials recently reported 46,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,887 deaths.
Beach closures up and down the coast during the pandemic can only be described as patchwork. Beaches in Laguna Beach were closed as were those at San Onofre State Park (Trestles) while Doheny remained open to surfing. Government officials in San Diego apparently opposed Gavin’s ban, sending him a letter voicing their displeasure after they’d taken the proper measures to re-open county sand in the last month. San Diego Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Greg Cox reportedly wrote that their county deserved the right to maintain open beaches after taking proper measures.
The Governor agreed, singling out the Orange Curtain after last weekend.
