In defense of Florida's open beaches
They are no more risky than New York City's open parks
![A beach.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/H42MXHwKVTz34ehaDiJ5kY-415-80.jpg)
It's fun and easy to dunk on Florida. Even Floridians do it. I mean, sinkholes! Boiled Gatorade! Alligators where there should not be alligators! "Florida man," haha!
So when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) permitted his state's beaches to begin reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic — and Jacksonville promptly availed itself of that option — criticism was predictably swift and harsh. #FloridaMorons trended on Twitter. "I guess in a way it makes perfect Florida-sense," tweeted actress Bette Midler. "To try to get a little sun so you look healthy at your funeral."
Haha, I guess, but opening the beaches isn't such a wild idea, provided social distancing is maintained as DeSantis directed. Though permitted to reopen, Florida's beaches aren't supposed to operate as usual. "No sunbathing, towels, blankets, chairs, coolers, grills, etc. will be permitted on Duval County beaches during the restricted hours they are open," directed the Jacksonville announcement. Group activities are prohibited; public bathrooms and pavilions are closed; beachgoers are expected to avoid contact with people outside their households.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"This is not a time to lounge," said Atlantic Beach Mayor Ellen Glasser. "This is not a time to party. This is a time where you need to exercise, keep moving, and then go home."
Set aside our assumptions about Florida and this isn't unreasonable. Is walking on a beach somehow more dangerous than walking through a park? New York City, site of the single worst COVID-19 outbreak in the country — and boasting a higher population density than any place in Florida — has kept city parks open for exercise. The guidelines for park use are, in fact, remarkably similar to Jacksonville's present beach rules: Solo exercise is permitted. Team sports and group gatherings are not. A major difference is New York's decision to keep many of its park restrooms open to the public. On that point, Jacksonville is the more cautious municipality. (There's a sentence no one thought they'd ever read.)
Assuming social distancing, opening beaches is a good thing. One advantage is it increases the tolerability of stay-at-home orders, and the protests popping up around the country show tolerability is a serious consideration. "It bugs me to see these restrictions on people being outside," Dr. Edward Nardell, a Harvard School of Public Health specialist in airborne infection, told Slate. "Mental health means something as well."
Nardell deemed outdoor transmission of the coronavirus "possible but improbable." And for some nontrivial number of people, being able to take a walk on the beach will make social distancing more bearable for a longer time. They'll find it easier to make safe choices in daily life if they're allowed this outlet. That's a public health benefit, not a loss.
But the very act of going to the beach can itself be a boon to public health. "The science could not be clearer: The benefits of getting outside vastly outweigh the risk of getting infected in a park," wrote a trio of Harvard scientists at The Washington Post earlier this month. "Outdoors, the virus quickly disperses in the air," they add, and "walking past someone should not induce fear or panic — these short walk-bys are low risk for transmission of the coronavirus." (Early research indicates indoor transmission, especially via HVAC systems, is a much bigger concern than outdoor spread.)
The Post story recommends precautions that are by now familiar: Always wear a mask while you're visiting a park. Keep 6 feet away from others as much as possible, allowing a wider berth if you're running or doing some other exercise that has you breathing hard. Try not to touch stuff other people have touched. Don't touch your face. Take off your shoes and wash your hands when you get home.
Ah, but will Floridians comply?
"Most people are abiding by the rules of no sunbathing, no using towels or chairs," Jacksonville reporter Troy Kless tweeted, with photo evidence. Those not in compliance get warnings from the police, he said. Mask use appears to be uncommon, which is stupid but hardly unique to Florida. (I was in the minority wearing a mask at the grocery store last week here in Minnesota, a cultural and geographic anti-Florida if there ever was one.) Drone footage — more useful than still images, where space between people can be difficult to gauge — shows ample distance between beachgoers in Jacksonville the first evening beaches were open, and on a local NBC/ABC affiliate's live feed of the Jacksonville beach as of this writing, I see one solitary dot that might be a person.
As delightful as I find a Florida lawyer's plan to protest-stalk his state's beaches in a Grim Reaper costume, the outrage over Florida's beaches is silly and unfair. With spring break crowds (which would be dangerous) long gone, opening beaches for safe, socially distant exercise is no riskier — and no less beneficial to public health — than open parks in New York and elsewhere around the country.
On this one, we can cut Florida a break.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Today's political cartoons - September 7, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - football widows, meddling kids, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Smoking ban: the return of the nanny state?
Talking Point Starmer's plan to revive Sunak-era war on tobacco has struck an unsettling chord even with some non-smokers
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: September 7, 2024
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
A brief history of third parties in the US
In Depth Though none of America's third parties have won a presidential election, they have nonetheless had a large impact on the country's politics
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Florida and other states move to block Chinese citizens from buying US homes
Under the Radar The block comes courtesy of a law that is currently being challenged in Florida's court system
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Being an economist makes me an optimist'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Florida court OKs abortion ban, referendum to reverse it
Speed Read The state Supreme Court upheld the six-week abortion ban, but a proposed amendment will appear on the November ballot
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published