PINELLAS CO., Fla. (WFLA) – Pinellas County is taking drastic action to keep people away from beaches amid the growing coronavirus outbreak.
Commissioners ordered all public beaches to close at 11:59 Friday These beaches will remain closed until at least April 6, and some beachgoers are bummed.
“We as Floridians, we need to be able to come to the beach,” said Johanna Moore. ” A lot of us live in towers that don’t have access to the outdoors. And if we can’t use our pools and we can’t come to the beach it’s going to be really hard.”
You can come out Friday during the day, however, officials warn if crowds get out of hand they will shut the beaches down early.
8 On Your Side spoke with some beach businesses who understand why this is an important move, but they say it’s going to hurt their bottom line.
“I’ve been through tons of hurricanes and red tides and other scenarios,” said one business owner. “In the outdoor business, you get a pretty thick skin. But this is a different territory.”
The countywide shut down includes Clearwater Beach, which wasn’t expected to close until Monday, meaning that beach will also close Friday night. Other counties and communities are making similar decisions.
Tampa beaches closed Wednesday, Sarasota County and Manatee County beaches are doing different things. Manatee County beaches closed Friday morning and Sarasota beaches will close Saturday morning.
These countywide closures will not impact private beaches. Still, anyone on the private beaches will be asked to adhere to CDC guidelines of staying six feet apart.
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