Americans flocked to beaches on Saturday as one Florida county expanded access and California experienced a heat wave, even as new coronavirus cases hit a record high in the United States the day before and deaths topped 200,000 worldwide.- By Gerald Gekara.
Volusia County, home to the famed Daytona Beach, opened lots at its coastal parks on Saturday to handicapped visitors, one step in a phased reopening that has so far limited its beaches to those wanting to walk, surf, bike or swim.
“I know they have rules and restrictions, but people aren’t listening,” said John Overchuck, 45, an attorney who lives in a beachfront home with his wife and toddler daughter just south of Daytona Beach in New Smyrna Beach. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Overchuck said he fears the return of thousands of spring breakers and tourists who in normal times are drawn to Smyrna and other county beaches.
A heat wave brought thousands of Californians to the open beaches in Newport Beach and Huntington Beach on Friday despite stay-at-home orders for people across the state, and similarly large crowds hit the beaches on Saturday.
More than 53,600 Covid-19 deaths have been reported in the US so far, with more than 200,000 deaths reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US has reported more than 938,600 cases of the disease.
