People who live within 10 miles of beaches in California are now allowed to come and visit provided that they have to follow new restrictions.

Some Beaches in California Are Now Open

Starting Monday, people who lived 10 miles from some of the beaches in California, like the San Mateo County beaches, are now allowed to come and visit. This means that more people are expected to be seen swimming and surfing.

However, Governor Newsom is closely monitoring the beaches, including the parks, as his office is weighing on how to ease fewer statewide restrictions.

In Santa Cruz County, they allow their residents to visit the beach early in the morning or sunset hours and tighter restrictions are now in place. Meanwhile, they are not allowed to visit any beach from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. to discourage visitors who are driving long distances.

During the daytime hours where residents are allowed to visit the beach, their movements are limited. Surfing and swimming are permitted, but lounging or strolling are not allowed. Meanwhile, people can jog and walk outside those hours, but to congregate in groups will still be prohibited.

People who will violate the new restrictions in an attempt to control the spread of the virus as the state opens its economy under Phase 1 will be warned and cited.

The same as well in the city of Pacifica, police officers have been patrolling the beaches for weeks already. This time, police officers are orienting groups of people they see congregating in the beaches, and those who lived 10 miles away from the city were only warned without any citations handed to them.

However, police officers are giving a heads up to people that lounging will soon no longer be allowed. They also explained to beachgoers that they are allowed to visit the beach but have to move or to watch your children swimming and not to assemble as well.

Some Beaches Remain Closed

However, the situation in Orange County is not the same as with San Mateo or Santa Cruz. Beaches in the county are closed because tens of thousands flocked to the beach without practicing social distancing measures as what is stipulated under Phase 1.

This led Gov. Newsom to order the closure of the beaches in Orange County. But, there was a request from Huntington Beach and others to block the order of Newsom, but it was declined by the Orange County Judge Nathan Scott.

He said: "I weighed the harm the closures caused the city and others, but the virus's threat to public safety should take priority. I will consider the issue again on May 11 after the city, state and, others have briefed the court in more detail."

Newsom ordered almost a month and a half stay-at-home to his people, which is estimated to be more than 40 million. During this time, only essential businesses were opened to make sure that Californians will have the necessities they needed every day.

Non-essential businesses will only be allowed to open until COVID-19 testing, cases, and hospital rate issues related to the virus began to decline.