After much back and forth with Governor Newsom and the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) over the past week, Orange County’s 42-miles of coastline are now open to the public. There are restrictions on what the beaches can be used for; running, swimming, and walking are permitted, sunbathing and gathering on the sand are not.
Reopening the beaches came in the same week that the County’s COVID-19 case count pushes over 3,000. It now stands at 3,557. More than 52,000 tests have been taken so far, and today, the number of deaths is 76. The population of Orange County is 3.2 million people, and the per capita death rate due to COVID-19 is 2.4 per 100,000 people. Although this number has spiked over the last week, it is still the lowest in Southern California — less than neighboring San Diego and Riverside Counties. Los Angeles County to the north has the highest per capita death rate in the region, 5 times that of OC.
With just 41 miles separating UC Irvine from downtown LA, it is a reminder of not only how close an outbreak of COVID-19 is to OC geographically, but also how easily it can be transported on the 405 and 5 freeways. Additionally, LAX and John Wayne airports continue to remain open to all U.S. regions that have become hotspots, including east coast area airports JFK and Newark, home to the lethal outbreak of coronavirus in New York.
As OC and its picturesque beaches remain open to the local community, as well as to those visiting, social distancing remains vitally important to keep infection numbers low.
OC has won the battle to enjoy its beaches, and must now remain vigilant to the fact that this victory comes with great responsibility to protect public health. Despite being in good shape compared to neighboring Counties and other areas of the U.S., we are not out of the woods. Community transmission is still very possible.
It is important to keep in mind that 100+ new cases have been diagnosed in the County, on 8 out of the last 14 days. Further, more than 1,400 cases of the virus have been discovered in just the last 2-week period alone. 52,000 tests are a great start, but in a County of more than 3-million people, there is still a lot of work to be done.
We can’t afford to hold our breath just yet. And that’s food for thought while we enjoy the waves and sand between our toes this weekend – while running, not sitting naturally.