Spring Sault
Just ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, a number of Texas beaches are going to have restrictions placed on them as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Independence Day holiday effort to reduce the spike of coronavirus cases will take place at beaches in Cameron County as well as Galveston city beaches. Port Aransas has also placed a curfew on its public beaches which prohibits vehicles from driving on them.
The Cameron County announcement came Monday, June 29, 2020, identifying that public access points to its beaches as well as county parks would be closed to mitigate the spread of the pandemic. A full list of the parks and beach accesses that are closed can be found here. The closure began on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 and will be in place through Monday, July 13, 2020. Gatherings of family and friends will be limited to 10 people, and any planned outdoor gatherings will be limited to no more than 100 people. Despite these orders, however, some beaches on South Padre Island will remain open.
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A curfew was also announced for Cameron County from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for anyone 17 to 18 years of age. For those 18 years of age or older, the curfew runs from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. These will be considered in effect in all circumstances except when a citizen is either providing an essential service or they have an emergency. As of June 29, 2020, Port Isabel had 22 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Laguna Vista had three, and South Padre Island had seven. Overall, Cameron County has identified 2,296 cases of the coronavirus, with 1,466 having recovered, and 55 deaths to date.
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In Galveston, in addition to the measures taken for its beaches, the city’s mayor has also said that he has the potential to consider closing certain beach access points for the rest of the season. The Port Aransas beach curfew has also been established from June 30 through July 11, 2020 and will run from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Nueces County has also ordered a curfew for all of its county beaches, in effect through July 11, 2020.
