North Carolina towns shut down their beaches over coronavirus concerns: ‘Stay home’
A growing number of North Carolina’s popular coastal towns are trying to keep tourists off beaches in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
This includes Wrightsville Beach, Surf City, Topsail Island, Carolina Beach and Emerald Isle, all of which are popular Spring Break destinations.
“Stay home,” Nags Head officials said in a blunt Facebook post. “Avoid discretionary travel.”
Wrightsville Beach and Surf City have closed all public access to their beaches, according to Facebook posts, while Emerald Isle suspended beach driving and is “discouraging tourist travel to the coast.”
Topsail Beach took the unusual step of leaving beaches open, but making it tougher for people to get there: It closed beach parking lots and outlawed parking on nearby streets.
Beaches are also empty at Bald Head Island, which called for a voluntary evacuation Thursday and “discontinuance of all short term rentals.
The announcements come days after Dare County, which includes much of the Outer Banks, announced it was closing all roads and turning away people who do not live, work or own property in the county.
Coastal Currituck County followed the example on Saturday and is forbidding nonresidents from visiting the northern sections of the Outer Banks, including Corolla. Hyde County, which includes Ocracoke Island, also issued an order restricting non-residents from reaching the island without a permit.
“Many Outer Banks residents are retirees and the senior citizen category is one of the most vulnerable to COVID-19. It is the county’s responsibility to protect our citizens as best as possible,” Currituck County officials posted on Facebook.
North Carolina is not under a shelter-in-place order, which mandates travel restrictions, but the governor has closed schools and ordered all restaurants to close dining rooms. Federal officials are recommending that people avoid gathering in crowds of 10 or more.
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 2:53 PM.