Newsom Announces ‘Hard Close’ Of All Orange County Beaches

Update: Governor Gavin Newsom orders temporary closure of all Orange County beaches.

Governor Gavin Newsom was expected to close all beaches and state parks in Califonia during today’s address, but instead, he only ordered the closure of all state and local beaches in Orange County.

“We’re going to do a hard close in that part of the state, just in Orange County,” he stated.

However, he stressed that the move is strictly a temporary measure as he works with local and state officials to develop protocols that allow public recreational areas to reopen “very, very quickly.”

One of his primary concerns was the risk of people from outside the area gathering at the beach and not complying with social distancing rules, which would cause the spread of the virus in other communities.

“Those that are doing good work, we want to reward that work and that behavior. That should be acknowledged in San Diego and Los Angeles and others that have done an outstanding job. We want to just focus on where there’s a problem,” he went on to say.

Additionally, Newsom said that he was aware of the memo that had reached “all kinds of stakeholders,” including law enforcement, but confirmed that he did not get the memo.

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After approximately 80,000 people flocked to Newport Beach in Orange County over the weekend, which was followed by a rise in cases, all beaches and state parks are now set to close.

Governor Gavin Newsom was expected to make the announcement within the next day or so, with the order going into effect on May 1. The new order is an effort to slow the rapid spread of the coronavirus and prevent any further increases in cases.

While this won’t make a difference to anyone in L.A. County as all beaches and state parks are already closed, this will mean Orange County and Ventura County will have to cancel their beach Frisbee plans.

Featured image: Party Upadhyay via Unsplash