Submitted by Commissioner Chip Ross
City of Fernandina Beach, FL
April 19, 2020
Recently the Governor closed the parks and ocean beaches located on the north and south of the island because of a public health emergency – the COVID 19 virus. The City of Fernandina Beach City Commissioners and Nassau County Commissioners concurred with that assessment and closed the remaining ocean beaches. The Chief of Police, Nassau County Sherriff and the Nassau County Health Officer all supported those decisions.
Since those closings, the legitimate question of when and under what circumstances will the beaches be opened have been posed by many citizens.
After reviewing the medical literature and scouring the internet for expert guidance my conclusion is there are many varying opinions. No one really knows what the effect of opening the beaches will have on the rate that people get sick in Nassau County. No one has ever done this before.
Social distancing, including closing restaurants, bars, parks and the beaches seems to be working in Nassau County and seems to have significantly decreased the predicted rapid spread of COVID 19 experienced in other areas. It appears we have been successful in not overwhelming our medical facilities. How much of that “curve flattening” can be attributed to closing of the beaches is unknown.
Another source of spreading the virus on beaches is objects contaminated by infected persons. This has not been extensively discussed. Coronavirus on benches, trash cans, beach walkover railings and other frequently touched surfaces may last for 2-3 days. These surfaces are not getting cleaned. If you touch these surfaces and then touch your face you may become infected. How much this contributes to the overall infection rate is unknown.
It is clear that by closing all the beaches on the island, the Governor not allowing vacation rentals, and the closing of many lodging establishments the number of visitors to the island has dramatically declined. Our beaches are public under Florida law. If they are open to one, they are open to all. The beaches act as a magnet to bring many more people to the island. The more people arriving at this time, the higher the chance of spreading COVID 19 in our community. Reopening the beaches will most likely draw a large amount of people to the island.
“Due to the highly infectious nature of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (referred to here as the COVID-19 virus), the Surfrider Foundation and numerous other outdoor recreation groups are encouraging supporters to stay home to avoid contributing to the spread of the virus.’ Surfrider Foundation
https://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/the-beach-and-covid-19-understanding-the-risks
The number of cases in Nassau County, Florida of COVID 19 continues to rise. The true incidence in not known. Adequate testing is not available. Much of our knowledge about COVID 19 continues to evolve and change.
Many believe that everyone who uses the beach will stay far enough apart so that there will be no increased risk of increasing the rate infection. Viewing pictures of the recent opening of the Jacksonville beaches shows that at least some people will not follow appropriate distancing. Do we expose our lifeguards, beach patrol and police officers to more opportunity for close contact with beach goers? How many will get infected, infect others and die because of the opening of the beach may be negligible or it may be significant.
The Governor and the Florida Health Department have far greater access to experts and resources to determine when the beaches no longer need to be closed. When the Governor agrees to open the two island ocean front parks and the County Health officer certifies use of beaches is not a health hazard to the general public, it would seem to me the beaches should be opened.
Your comments are appreciated. I can be reached at [email protected].
A very calm and well reasoned opinion Dr. Ross. Thank you, you are a tremendous asset to our community. I believe we can sacrifice our beach time for the greater good. I am so worried about those out of work, and the small but slowly growing number of us who are ill with this disease however. Let’s worry about things far more important than staying off of the beach for a couple of months
Commissioner Ross;
Our beaches need to be opened with limited hours as the three cities just south of us. We should not be subjected to continued speculation and unnecessary fear mongering. In addition, you are subjecting us to waiting for an order from the county health officer in order to justify your decision. We all know that order will never be given. Therefore, instead of trusting your constituents as Georgia and all other North Florida beach communities already have, we have to be content with this commissions concerns caused by media misinformation and control.
The problem with opening 2 or so beaches in this state will totally show inaccurately large numbers of people flocking to those beaches. It will not reflect what the numbers would be if all beaches are opened at the same time. All beaches in Florida should be opened at least on a trial basis to really see what happens. As the beaches started closing one by one, we saw a reversal of what is happening now. Open all or none to get a more accurate feed.
PLEASE DO NOT OPEN THE BEACHES!!!!
We would be taking a chance of creating a resurgence of the virus. Is that worth it? Another month would seem prudent given the circumstances and the lives that we could put at risk. The beaches are not going anywhere. They will be there for all to enjoy again.
Don’t go
Dr. Ross, Thank you for writing this. We recently moved to this area from a large city that is now battling Covid-19. I commented the other day how much safer I feel here with my children. It is big picture thinking like you have articulated in this article that offers that peace of mind. We all saw how quickly this virus spread through areas of south Florida and even the panhandle from spring breakers so I can only imagine how it might impact our local area to open the beaches too soon. We are seriously blessed to have closed beaches become one of the “largest inconveniences” in our day to day lives.
Open the beaches give us a little something we can do
I agree. Leave the beaches closed until the medical professionals say it is safe. You may consider opening tennis courts and golf courses. These are places where people don’t congregate.
The statement you made about the the virus lasting on outdoor surfaces 2 to 3 days is incorrect. That is true for indoor surfaces. Outdoors the uv light from the sun will destroy the virus in 30 minutes or less. Get your facts straight before you write articles like this. Outdoors is the best place to be. A proven fact. Open the beaches, get people outside
With the arrival of this pandemic Common Sense appears to have gone out the window. Residence of Amelia Island are well aware of the fact that when the restaurants closed, the bar is closed, the hotels closed the beach has emptied. There are quite a few responsible citizens on this island who walk the beach every morning and every night. Mental health is just as important as physical health and lockdowns are not going to beat this pandemic. What do we do in November or April of next year? Get locked down for another 6 months?
I have been saying for weeks that if you can ride or walk on the bike paths, ride or walk on every street on Amelia Island then why the hell can you not walk or ride on the beach? Oh I’m assuming that it’s still will be legal to walk on the island? What’s the next step? The Commissioners ban walking in general?. Wake up folks your Liberties are disappearing in Leaps and Bounds. No one is going to keep you safe other than yourself using some common sense. If I hear one more expert talk about getting c-19 from the ocean waves I’m going to puke.
Keep a close eye on the Jacksonville hospital’s for 3
More weeks then make a decision
Chip:
In your position to keep beaches closed, (Observer 4/20) you are neglecting important health benefits such as fresh air, sunshine (important vitamin D) salt water, exercise, and what about mental health? I believe that these benefits far outweigh the danger of touching a handrail or “contaminated objects”on the beach. The only other off street walking area is Egan’s Creek trail which would be relieved of traffic were the beach to be opened.
I did not delegate my rights and my responsibility for my health to bureaucrats and politicians. The heavy handed nanny state, paternalism is better left in totalitarian regimes. I urge you and all representatives to relinquish this control and micro management of the actions of “free” people. Last time I checked, the Bill of Rights had supremacy over “social distancing”. Additionally recall that our right to life, Liberty and pursuit of happiness is granted by our Creator, according to the Declaration of Independence and not any government.
The proper role of government is to advise the public by suggesting best practices. Unfortunately for freedom, government is using force forgetting that they are the servant, not the master. I would prefer that my local government were not a proponent of that.
Our many miles of ocean beach are mainly residential. Even on the most crowded days of the year they are sparsely populated. Give people a little credit for taking care of themselves, lighten up and rescind the lockdown of nature.
Thank you for your otherwise excellent, proactive representation as city councilman.
Michael Miller
It does not have to be an “open” or “closed” decision. There is a middle ground – restricted hours. Allow people to use the beach from sunrise ‘til 10:00am. Close from 10:00 to 5:00pm. Open again from 5:00 ‘til sunset. This allows the residents substantial time to take advantage of our beach to walk, exercise, swim, fish and surf, yet dissuades social mingling.
Golf courses are already open and have been all along.
It is perfectly reasonable to consider re-opening beaches for walking while restricting sunbathing or congregating. With vacation rentals closed and others being told to shelter in place there is very little reason to believe the beaches on our little island would suddenly be overrun with visitors. There is almost nowhere nearby for people to get fresh air, children to run, people to stretch their legs and exercise, all necessary to health and immunity. I understand caution and there may even be some legitimate reasons to keep beaches closed but you failed to touch upon any of them here.
For the record, when outdoors, wind disperses particles and rarely results in surface contamination. All that research you did should have provided you with this kind of information.
We should wait at least 14 days to see what effect this has on Jacksonville infection numbers. At this time cases continue to increase in Nassau county but we only have 46 at this time let’s do whatever we have to to keep it that way.
I agree that the beaches should open.
The statement, “Social distancing, including closing restaurants, bars, parks and the beaches seems to be working in Nassau County and seems to have significantly decreased the predicted rapid spread of COVID 19 experienced in other areas.”, is based on conjecture. “Seems” is the operative word!
There is no way to know if Covid-19 would have spread here in the same way as New York and other hotbeds. There are many reasons to believe otherwise. Our population density and mode of transportation is dramatically different from the hard hit cities and would likely reduce the impact of disease transmission locally.
Other know corona virus and flu tend to be seasonal because they thrive when cold air is brought into the lungs, which provides a better environment for virus survivability. We have already shifted to warmer temperatures. Looking at the most recent infection data coming from Southern California seems to bear out the reduced risk in warm environments considering the large number of asymptomatic individuals with covid-19 antibodies. Perhaps social distancing has created a greater risk by preventing individuals from catching the disease, remaining asymptomatic, and developing antibodies prior to a higher risk winter season?
While social distancing may have played a role in reducing the spread of coronavirus, we do not actually know what that it made any difference at all in our community. I’m not asserting that it did not, just that we need to start using science as a guide instead of mass hysteria.
People are capable of making decisions to protect themselves if they so choose. Nobody has to go to an open beach and people who are concerned can use personal protection devices to mitigate their risk.