Beaches to reopen in California county because people are ignoring rules to stay away

Beaches in Santa Cruz County will reopen at midnight Thursday because the closure orders have become impossible to enforce, KGO reported.

“Effective today at midnight, the beach closure will end — so that’s big news,” said Santa Cruz County health officer Dr. Gail Newel, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“We had hoped to continue the beach closure until after Fourth of July weekend, but it’s become impossible for law enforcement to continue to enforce that closure,” Newel said, KGO reported. “People are not willing to be governed anymore in that regard.”

A county health order posted Thursday says “from this point forward, Santa Cruz County beaches are open to the public free from any restrictions previously imposed.”

A county shelter-in-place order will remain in effect until July 6, the order says.

The decision comes as COVID-19 cases spike in California, sparking a statewide mask order and talk of rolling back other reopening efforts, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Birthday parties, children’s play dates and other private gatherings are to blame for much of the increase, which also has seen 4,000 people currently hospitalized, Newsom said, according to the publication.

Beaches in Santa Cruz County have been closed since May. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk partly reopened June 6, KSBW reported.

More than 9.4 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 484,000 deaths as of Thursday, June 22, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 2.3 million confirmed cases with more than 122,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic. In the United States, President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency.

This story was originally published June 25, 2020 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Beaches to reopen in California county because people are ignoring rules to stay away."