Huntington Beach Social Distance Fail Amid Coronavirus Closures

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — Social distancing reached an even more elevated level of importance, over the weekend, as Huntington Beach filled with visitors, it was reported.

Dog beach was the major fail, according to the Huntington Beach police department, though officers were on hand to remind residents to stay apart from one another.

"I'm shocked at the number of people with chairs, food, balls, etc. for an afternoon at the beach," Huntington Beach resident Benigna Carrillo told City News Service. "I called the police, and they told me the beach is open. This is not good. We are in a crisis."

The beach was open to visitors, Huntington Beach Police Lt. Brian Smith confirmed. Some areas remained off-limits, though the sand itself was free for residents to roam.

To date, there are 62 residents of the 203,761 residents of Huntington Beach who tested positive for coronavirus and are quarantined or hospitalized.

Meanwhile, after experiencing an influx of visitors, officials in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and San Clemente closed their shores to visitors one week or more ago.

It is not known if that social fail increased the numbers of positive coronavirus cases in those towns.

To date, Newport Beach, with a population of 87,000 people, has 73 positive cases of coronavirus reported.

Laguna Beach, with a far fewer population of 23,358, has 34 positive cases of coronavirus.

San Clemente, populated by 65,405 people, has 38 people infected with the coronavirus.

Other beach cities of Dana Point to the south and Seal Beach to the north have far fewer infected with the coronavirus.

Dana Point, with a population of 34,249, only 11 residents have tested positive for coronavirus.

Seal Beach, to the north, with 25,073, currently has 3 residents who have tested positive for COVID-19.

In Huntington Beach, parking lots, the pier, amphitheater, and picnic tables were closed, with signs and fencing to make clear which areas were off-limits, he said.

While Smith described attendance at much of Huntington Beach's shores were in the "dozens, not hundreds," the opposite was true at the dog beach around 17th Street, he said Saturday.

"There are hundreds of people," with officers reminding them to keep their distance.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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