Even as the spread of the coronavirus appears to be under control on Cape Cod, officials worried about overcrowding on some the area’s popular beaches are reminding residents and tourists how to “beach well” for the rest of the summer, including avoiding high tides.
“We’re now back to the single digits in new cases. Long may it last,” said Vaira Harik, deputy director of the Barnstable County Department of Human Services.
Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday rolled out a color-coded system for tracking the spread of coronavirus town by town across Massachusetts, with white and green indicating the lowest levels of infection and yellow and red signaling a higher risk of community spread.
Cape Cod, according to the latest update, is shaded almost entirely white, with the exceptions of Falmouth and Barnstable, which includes the village of Hyannis. Both are colored “green,” meaning an average of less than 4 new daily cases per 100,000 people over the last two weeks.
To maintain its status, officials, including Sen. Julian Cyr of Truro, said the Cape Cod Reopening Task Force was responding to concerns from town managers about beach crowding by publishing tips on its website for how to “Beach Well” on the Cape.
Some towns have started restricting beach parking to cars with resident stickers only, they said.
The tip sheet reinforces existing guidelines, such as maintaining 12-feet of distance between groups on the beach, wearing masks while walking to and from parking lots and refraining from volleyball, soccer, bocce and other beach sports.
It also recommends avoiding high tides, when available shore space shrinks, and suggests timing beach visits three hours before or after high tide.
The Reopening Task Force website includes links to a guide of Cape Cod beaches and what to expect from the varying tides on Cape Cod Bay, Nantucket Sound, the Atlantic Ocean and Buzzards Bay.
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