Some beaches are reopening with social distancing rules. Is it safe for you to go?

As beaches begin to reopen, some people are wondering if it’s safe to go during the coronavirus pandemic.

California, Florida, and South Carolina are among the states relaxing some lockdown guidelines for beaches, media outlets report.

Orange County in California reopened beaches, but kept parking lots and piers closed to prevent tourists from visiting, The Hill reported.

Ventura County reopened beaches but kept parking lots closed and prohibited people from sunbathing and lounging, saying that people need to “keep moving [while] walking, running, surfing and swimming,” according to The Hill.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he didn’t want a spike in cases due to the warmer temperatures, The Guardian reported.

“People are prone to want to go to the beaches, parks, playgrounds and go on a hike,” Newsom said in a news briefing on Thursday, according to The Guardian. “If it is open, just abide by social distancing.”

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis gave the go-ahead to reopen parks and beaches, provided it’s safe and social distancing measures are still in place, according to The Associated Press.

“Do it in a good way. Do it in a safe way,” DeSantis said, according to The AP.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster cleared the way for the state to reopen beaches, The Sun News reported.

In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp also allowed beaches to reopen, according to USA Today.

Some health experts say they aren’t sure that beaches should reopen during the pandemic.

“I’m concerned,” John Swartzberg, an infectious disease specialist at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, told The Los Angeles Times. “If the people going to the beach can assure that they will remain six feet or more apart and not touch common things ... then I think it’s OK. But I think the chances of that happening ... is extremely small.”

Some outlined ways to stay safe while frequenting beaches.

“You arrive, you put on your mask as you get out of the car to make sure you won’t encounter anybody and then you go down to the beach. If there’s nobody there, you can take your mask off,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told CNN.

“Do your exercising, and as you walk back to the parking lot, put it back on until you can get into your car safely again,” he said, according to CNN.

Some say keeping public spaces open is beneficial.

Marc Lipsitch, who studies infectious disease at Harvard, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed: “The benefits of getting outside vastly outweigh the risk of getting infected in a park.”

“But closing parks and public gardens should be a temporary, last-resort measure for disease control,” he wrote.”

Lipsitch told Vox that also applies to reopening beaches, “as long as people maintain distances.”

This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Some beaches are reopening with social distancing rules. Is it safe for you to go?."