During Thursday's coronavirus task force briefing, it was revealed that new research shows sunlight quickly kills the Wuhan coronavirus. With the temperature in California rising above 90 degrees this weekend, tens of thousands of Californians flocked to sunny beaches in defiance of Gov. Newsom's stay-at-home order. Beaches operated by the state remain closed, but some city beaches are now open.
People surfing and sunbathing in hot weather became breaking news this weekend as an estimated 50,000 people descended upon Newport and Huntington Beaches. The beachgoers could be seen throwing caution to the wind as they engaged in "nonessential" activities such as swimming, sunbathing, and surfing.
Newport Beach appears to be pretty crowded, as Southern California is hit by a heat wave. https://t.co/abDlBmkZo0 pic.twitter.com/1DDSjvPhT5
— NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) April 25, 2020
Today in Newport Beach. Wow.
— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) April 26, 2020
Via @GettyImagesNews pic.twitter.com/eo0WMmQ3eg
The governor issued a plea on Twitter for Californians to ignore the sunshine and stay home. Newsom has repeatedly warned Californians not to expect a strong reopening anytime soon, using the tired dimmer-switch analogy as the governor works with immigrant groups to use the state's rainy-day fund to cut checks to illegal immigrants.
It’s going to be nice outside this weekend. You might be feeling cooped up. Ready for life to go back to “normal.”
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) April 24, 2020
But can’t stress this enough:
CA can only keep flattening the curve if we stay home and practice physical distancing.
You have the power to literally save lives.
Protests are popping up all over the state as California is now in its second month under Gov. Newsom's stay-at-home order.
Right Now: Pacific Beach, California. #COVID19 Source: SkyFox, San Diego pic.twitter.com/gg0UlAviYR
— Alexandra Datig (@alexdatig) April 26, 2020
On Saturday, three people were arrested on Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, about 25 miles north of San Diego, for violating the stay-at-home order. They were part of a protest, named "The Surf's Up Shred the Tidal Wave of Tyranny." Beaches in San Diego will reopen on April 27th for activities like swimming, kayaking, and surfing. Other activities, like sunbathing and sitting in the sand, will not be allowed, for some reason. Protesters are demanding that hiking trails and beaches, seemingly harmless activities, reopen as the weather heats up across the state.
When beachgoers in the red-state of Flordia headed to the coast, the hashtag #floridamorons trended on Twitter. Leftists shamed the noncompliant Americans and hoped "Darwinism" would run its course on the insubordinate Floridians. But since California is a blue state, no such prayers for mass death have yet to trend on Twitter. The number of expected deaths in Flordia has been revised down in recent weeks.
Perhaps owing to the warmer weather, places like Flordia and California have not experienced the large number of deaths that New York has. The virus has killed less than 1,700 people in California since February. The state has an estimated population of just under 40 million. California is now digging up older deaths to see if the virus was spreading through the community earlier than previously believed.
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