California lawmakers plead: Fight virus, don’t pack beaches
By DAISY NGUYEN
Associated Press
With cases of coronavirus surging and the death toll surpassing 100, lawmakers are pleading with cooped-up Californians to spend a second weekend at home to slow the spread of infection.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday that the number of people hospitalized across the state spiked to more than 1,000, and that overnight the number of people admitted to intensive care units doubled from 200 to more than 400. He said the numbers are relatively modest in comparison to the 52,000 confirmed cases in New York, the U.S. epicenter of the outbreak, but the trend could lead to overstretched hospitals in California.
California could see conditions similar to New York, “if we stop practicing physical distancing ... if we pull back form our stay-at-home policy ... if we go back to our normal routines without bending the curve,” Newsom said while touring a Silicon Valley firm that is refurbishing outdated ventilators for hospitals.
It has been more than a week since Newsom issued the stay-at-home order for 40 million residents, restricting them from all but essential outside activities such as buying food and including only outdoor exercise such as walking or running near home that doesn’t put them within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of another person.
However, reports of people packing beaches and hiking trails has prompted local governments to close recreation areas.
Los Angeles this weekend began a three-week shutdown of beaches, piers, beach bike paths and parking lots along with public trails, including one leading to the famous Hollywood sign. Golf courses, tennis courts and skate parks also were shuttered.
The warnings resonated at Venice Beach, which was nearly empty on a sunny Saturday except for a few souls walking by the water and cycling on the bike path. The scene was remarkably different from a week ago, when people packed the famous stretch of sand on the first weekend of the stay-at-home order.
In San Diego, the most popular beaches were blocked with yellow police tape and police were patrolling them to discourage people from congregating there. San Diego County sheriff’s deputies are stressing compliance with the state and county orders but spokesman Ricardo Lopez said scofflaws could face misdemeanor charges carrying a sentence of up to six months in jail.
On Friday, Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the surge in COVID-19 that health officials warned about will worsen.
“We are now seeing the spike that we were anticipating,” Newsom declared while standing in front of the 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship Mercy that arrived in the Port of Los Angeles. It will take non-virus patients to free up rooms at hospitals for infection cases.