Updated: Today and tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, March 21 and 22, all Volusia County vehicular access ramps will remain closed. This will serve as a measure of crowd control.
These actions will provide Volusia County Beach Safety staff the ability to manage beachgoers and maintain safety by enforcing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
Beachgoers must continue to observe the enhanced guidelines put in place by Governor DeSantis. Rules include limiting groups to ten people or less and maintaining a 6-foot distance from all other groups.
Conditions remain fluid, and plans may be adjusted as necessary to protect the health and safety of our community.
While Volusia County’s coastal shoreline remains open, 6-foot
separation between beachgoers and limitations on the size of gatherings
are being put into effect to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The restrictions – which limit gatherings on Volusia County’s beaches to no more than 10 people.
The Volusia County Council enacted the restrictions after Florida
Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order earlier Tuesday designed
to enforce social distancing guidelines put out by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to help stop person-to-person
transmission of the virus. The County Council also extended Volusia
County’s declaration of local emergency until March 24.
More than two hours of Tuesday’s County Council meeting was dedicated
to a discussion of the pandemic, which included an update from the
Volusia County Health Department on local conditions. Thus far,
according to Patricia Boswell, administrator of the Health Department in
Volusia County, all of the known cases in Volusia County are
travel-related and there is no indication of community spread here. When
talk at Tuesday’s meeting turned to the beaches, council members made it
clear that they want to keep them open and operating, but with the
necessary precautions and restrictions called for in Governor DeSantis’
order. Council member Deb Denys likened a trip to the beach to a mental
health break for residents stressed about their health and the risks
posed by closed, confined spaces.
“We need a mental health break as well as a physical health break,”
said Denys. “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,” added County Council member Ben
Johnson.
County staff acknowledged that enforcing the restrictions will be
challenging. County Manager George Recktenwald said they’ll need the
public’s help and cooperation to make the rules work. If they don’t, the
council gave Recktenwald and County Chair Ed Kelley the authority to
change them.
“We need you to cooperate so that we can enjoy the outdoors during this
time,” Recktenwald said his message is to the public. “I think it’s
important to be able to do that. We need to do it responsibly.”
In response to concerns about people feeling ill and still coming to
the beach, the message from the Health Department is simple.
“If you are ill, we hope that you stay home,” said Boswell.
The county’s beach safety director, Ray Manchester, said he has
confirmed that there is enough personal protective gear for all of his
employees. He said staff will resort to loud speakers and other similar
means to spread out groups on the beach that exceed the maximum
10-person limit. Violation of any order issued by the county during a
time of emergency is a 2nd-degree misdemeanor. Asked if he was prepared
to make arrests to enforce the restrictions, Manchester responded: “We
will do what we have to do, but that would be a last resort.”
