Coronavirus fears not enough to keep people away from beach along Sacramento rivers
While there is fear of the coronavirus spread, it isn’t enough to stop people from heading to Tiscornia Beach to enjoy the cool water where the Sacramento and American rivers meet on what was one of the warmest days so far this season.
Lloyd Reber and his family on Tuesday afternoon sat on lawn chairs underneath a tent sheltering them from the hot sunlight as the temperature reached 91 degrees in Sacramento. That’s where they go to cool off and he said the stay-at-home health guidance to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, is overblown.
“I don’t understand all this big hype,” said Reber, a West Sacramento resident. “There’s a 95 percent survival rate. Why are we shutting down everything for a 95 percent survival rate?”
Reber said he feels those enjoying the outdoors will be fine, just as long as they’re not vulnerable to the infectious respiratory disease, such as elderly people or those with underlying medical conditions. He said they have masks in their truck, but they were not wearing any on the beach.
Many others sunbathing, picnicking or simply relaxing on the beach also were not wearing masks Tuesday. Guidelines in the United States instruct people to wear masks in public, stand 6 feet apart and stay inside until further notice to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
Mostly, those on the beach were gathering in their own groups. Each seemed to be maintaining a safe distance from other groups on the beach.
“People are staying in their own areas,” Reber said. “You’re in the open air. You’re not shaking hands with everyone. You’re not sharing food with everyone.”
California, Florida, and South Carolina are among the states relaxing some lockdown guidelines for beaches, media outlets report. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he didn’t want a surge in COVID-19 cases because people head to beaches and parks, so he urged residents to maintain social distancing, The Guardian reported.
Kaliah Bright felt that she might as well go to Tiscornia Beach if it was still open to the public. She was at the beach most of last summer, so she returned Tuesday for the first time this year. Fear of the coronavirus kept her away, even during warm weather last week.
“Everyone is in their own little circle,” the Sacramento resident said of the other groups on the beach. “You can’t hold us in the house too long. This is the best place to cool off ... we can keep our distance and pray, that’s all we can do.”
Valerie Lightemberg of Sacramento said she’s afraid of the coronavirus. But she’s more fearful of contracting the disease in more confined areas, such as grocery stores. She said it was time to head to the beach.
“It’s a nice day and the kids are restless,” Lightemberg said as she applied sunblock. “We figured we would just keep our distance.”
It also was the first visit to Tiscornia Beach this year for Sacramento’s Alex Arrevalo and his family. He said they went to the beach twice last year, and there were not a lot of people there on this weekday visit. They got in the water for bit, he said, and other groups were not getting too close.
When asked if he was afraid of contracting the coronavirus, he said in Spanish, “Yeah, but that’s why we’re distancing ourselves. People stay in their own spot.”
Stephanie Vilanova moved to an apartment in Stockton from San Francisco just before the statewide stay-at-home order went into effect March 19. She said they were not used to such warm weather and her landlord closed the swimming pool at her apartment complex until the coronavirus pandemic is over.
So, she and a few others made the drive from Stockton to Tiscornia Beach on Tuesday.
“It’s too hot and being stuck in the house is not what we want to do,” Vilanova said. “People seem to be respecting the distancing out here.”
She said there were fewer people there than what she saw on Sunday, when they tried to get to the beach.
“There was a long line of cars around the corner from the gate,” Vilanova said. “We just went to another park.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
