California governor orders closure of Orange County beaches after massive crowds appear

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Thursday announced that the state would temporarily close beaches in Orange County, following a weekend in which thousands of people packed the public areas despite social distancing restrictions designed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

The state government had originally indicated plans to close all public beaches and state parks this weekend, but Newsom said at a news conference that the closures would only apply to Orange County.

He said that recent behavior had “raised alarm bells” among health officials and warned that it could help spur future outbreaks. 

“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.”

Tens of thousands of people converged on beaches in Orange County last weekend as parts of California experienced its first major heat wave of the year. Approximately 90,000 people visited Newport Beach over the weekend, according to estimates. Photos and videos also showed huge crowds lining Huntington Beach. 

Newsom labeled himself a “beach advocate,” but he argued that people visiting the beaches in Orange County were not maintaining proper social distancing. He said that he hoped the order would be a “very short-term adjustment.” 

His decision came down just a day after the Newport Beach City Council voted to keep the town’s public areas open during the outbreak.

Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner said in a statement on Wednesday that Newsom was within his authority to make such a move. But he argued that this “overreaction” could “undermine that cooperative attitude and our collective efforts to fight the disease, based on the best available medical information.”

Newsom had been expected to order the closure of every beach and state park on Thursday, according to a memo sent to police chiefs around the state and obtained by several news organizations. The plan prompted pushback from some local officials, including San Diego Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Greg Cox. 

The two wrote in a letter to the governor earlier Thursday that their county had safely reopened its beaches and that the entire state should not be impacted by behavior in Orange County. Ventura County, an area about 70 miles north of Los Angeles, has also reopened its beaches with certain restrictions. Beaches in Los Angeles County have remained closed. 

Newsom became one of the first governors in the U.S. in mid-March to issue a stay-at-home order. He said Thursday that the state was flattening the curve in hospitalizations, but noted that it had yet to see a decline. 

The state’s health department has reported 46,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and 1,887 deaths.