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People bike on a crowded bike path on Venice Beach on March 21, 2020 in Venice, California.
- All public beaches, public trails, and bike paths are closing in Los Angeles County to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease.
- The closure comes after large crowds were seen last weekend following Gov. Gavin Newsom's statewide stay-at-home order directing people to stay inside as much as possible.
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All public beaches, bike paths, and public trails in Los Angeles County are temporarily closing to prevent large crowds in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19.
The order is effective immediately and will be enforced through April 19, according to the county.
The closure comes after mass outings were spotted across the county last weekend despite Gov. Gavin Newsom's statewide stay-at-home order, issued a couple of days earlier, directing people to remain indoors as much as possible.
"The crowds we saw at our beaches last weekend were unacceptable," Supervisor Janice Hahn said according to KTLA5News. "In order to save lives, beaches in LA County will be temporarily closed."
Keeping residents out of open spaces en masse has been an issue in the San Francisco Bay Area as well after the region's shelter-in-place order went into effect on March 17.
People are allowed to go outside as long as they stay 6 feet apart, but San Francisco Mayor London Breed has threatened to close public parks after mass outings were noticed during the first weekend of the shelter-in-place order.
Breed held a press conference Monday to reiterate to residents the importance of social distancing. She said if people continue to violate guidelines, the city will close its public parks. Parking areas at some parks have already been closed.
"Sadly, in some of our parks and along our beaches we have noticed there are a lot of people taking this opportunity to have picnics," Breed said, according to SF Gate. "This is not what this is about. For public safety we need people to comply."
Overall, people may be allowed to go outside for exercise and other essential activities, but city and health officials are advising residents to limit the number of unnecessary trips.
There are 1,465 confirmed cases in Los Angeles County and 4,265 in the state of California.
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