Coronavirus: Crowds pack California beaches despite warning to stay at home

Some parks and beaches were ordered to close by Sunday as crowds ignored coronavirus warnings to stay at home

Crowds gathered at Huntington Beach, California, at the weekend despite an order to social distance (Getty Images)

Californians visited beaches, parks and hiking trails over the weekend in significant numbers, defying a state-wide order to stay at home.

Images of Huntington Beach, southeast of Los Angeles, appeared on social media showing beach-goers gathered along the popular stretch of surfing beach. Other visitors on Saturday 21 March posted videos online showing busy bicycle paths, and reported that the pier remained open.

There were similar scenes on Saturday at Santa Monica, 38 miles north of Huntington Beach, before city officials there ordered closure of the beach parking lot to deter visitors.

In a statement, City Manager Rick Cole said: “Today is not the day to go to the beach. We know that it’s difficult to stay at home when the weather is so nice and being close to the beach is one of the primary reasons why we love to call Santa Monica home.

“Yet this is a time when we must take the guidelines from our health officials to heart. We urge our residents to avoid any public spaces where social distancing is a challenge.”

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On 20 March, California Governor, Gavin Newsom ordered all 40 million residents to remain at home to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The measures restrict all Califronians from leaving their homes except for essential activities, and when outside a distance of six feet should be kept between people.

But crowds seen at the weekend led many other city leaders to close parks, beaches and recreation spaces by Sunday night, including Long Beach, Malibu and San Clemente.

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia warned residents to socially distance themselves when outside.

“To be clear, the Governor and City’s order does allow people to go for a walk or visit a park or beach," he tweeted. "However, you must still use social distancing. You can’t play team sports, and you must stay 6 feet apart from anyone else.”

Whilst in San Clemente, Mayor Dan Bane warned that there would be a statewide ban on beaches if people continued to ignore restrictions by congregating in public spaces.

In a Facebook post, he said: “If people do not self-quarantine and continue to congregate in public areas, particularly at beaches, my expectation is that the state (or County health official) will completely close the beaches at some point for everyone.”

Record numbers seen at hiking trails around Los Angeles also lead to the closure of all Los Angeles’ Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority parks and trails on Sunday.

There are now 1,802 confirmed coronavirus cases in California, with 35 deaths.