Back to the Beach: San Diego County Reopens for Swimming, Surfing, Fishing — Not Sunbathing

San Diego County beaches are reopening Monday morning — with strict rules in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The county announced Friday that beaches would be allowed to reopen, but left discretion open to local communities.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported:

When the County of San Diego declared Friday that cities could reopen their beaches starting Monday, Encinitas announced it would go for it, as did the city of San Diego and Coronado, but other communities did not. Carlsbad City Council voted Saturday to keep its beach, parks and trails closed until May 1. Del Mar and Solana Beach have indicated that they do not plan to reopen on Monday, and the state parks system also is holding off on reopening the beaches it manages.

Beaches remain closed in Los Angeles County. They are open in Orange County, however — with critics saying that too many people had crowded the beach over the weekend, after the first summer temperatures of the year arrived late last week.

San Diego Lifeguard Chief James Gartland explained the new rules for San Diego County to KPBS:

In phase 1, we get to run, we get to swim, we get to walk on the beach, we get to surf, and you get to fish. So we do get access to our beach back, but we want to remind everyone the stay-at-home order is still in effect.

So, no gatherings, and no lying down or sitting on the beach.

And the parking lots will still be closed.

If you can FIND a place to park, You can swim, you can surf, and you can fish.

Lifeguards and police will be enforcing social distancing along the beaches.

…

And the beach openings come just as an order for all county residents to wear facial coverings outside is set to take effect May 1.

So put on your swimsuits, but put on those masks, too.

Over the weekend, there were three arrests at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, as people protested stay-at-home orders. The protesters defied the rules by sitting on the beach.

There were also protests in Imperial Beach and Pacific Beach, but no arrests. Beaches in Ventura County remain open.

New research presented by the Department of Homeland Security last week at the White House press briefing suggested that the coronavirus does not survive long in sunlight or warm temperatures.

Past research published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also suggested that the virus is far more likely to be transmitted indoors than in an outdoor setting.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.