Volusia County officials keeping beaches open, advising 6-foot separation between beachgoers
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - The Volusia County Government said that despite the coronavirus outbreak, their coastline will remain open. However, they do recommend that beachgoers practice a six-foot separation between each other and keep limits on the size of gatherings.
They said that new these restrictions went into place at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, prohibiting beachgoers from gathering in groups larger than ten people. They also encouraged beachgoers to practice social distancing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help stop the person-to-person transmission of COVID-16. With this, people must keep six-feet in between each other.
This declaration of local emergency will reportedly last until March 24.
MORE NEWS: Florida now has 216 positive cases of coronavirus, the Department of Health says
Several council members at Tuesday's meeting said that they want to keep the beaches open and operating but with the necessary precautions and restrictions in place, the Volusia County Government said.
“We need a mental health break as well as a physical health break,” Council Member Deb Denys said to them. "And we have that right here in Volusia County. We have a beautiful asset called the beach.”
“I think closing the beaches would be a bad precedent. But I think there are things that we can do,” County Council member Ben Johnson reportedly added.
However, with this said, the Volusia County Government said that if you are ill, stay home.
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