If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
The New York Times has dedicated its entire Sunday front page to naming — and humanizing — U.S. coronavirus victims.
The unusual, chilling, text-only front page includes heartbreakingly sweet, one-line anecdotes of the lives lost to the virus — some of them young and just finding their footing in life, and others of advanced age whose biographies could have filled an entire Sunday edition.
There’s Denise Camille Buczek, 72, from Bristol, Conn., who “loved writing birthday and holiday cards, poems and lists.”
And Romi Cohn, 91, New York City, who “saved 56 Jewish families from the Gestapo.”
And then Leo Sreebny, 98, of Seattle, who “preferred bolo ties to neckties, suspenders to belts.”
The 1,000 miniature obituaries fill six full columns of the broadsheet and then continue inside, yet account for a fraction of the nearly 100,000 U.S. deaths due to the virus.
Simone Landon, an assistant editor of the Gray Lady’s graphics desk, explained the front page was a way to find a more personal commemoration of the approaching grim benchmark.
“We knew we were approaching this milestone,” she said. “We knew that there should be some way to try to reckon with that number.”
Tom Bodkin, the chief creative officer of The Times, said he did not remember a text-only front page in his 40 years at the paper. He believed it was the first such design in the paper’s “modern” era.
The paper said that its researcher, Alain Delaquérière, scoured “various sources online” for obituaries and death notices with COVID-19 written as the cause of death.
A team of editors and three graduate journalism students then worked to craft the personal phrases for each victim, according to The Times.
But one of the first names on the paper’s earlier editions of the front page, Jordan Driver Haynes, 27, didn’t actually die from the virus. He was murdered, according to local reports.
Haynes’ body was found in a vehicle left in a wooded area off a highway in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the local NBC affiliate reported.
A spokeswoman for the paper said the error was corrected for subsequent editions.
The U.S. government will likely impose sanctions on China if Beijing implements a national security law that would give it greater control over autonomous Hong Kong, White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said Sunday.
The draft legislation represents a takeover of Hong Kong, O’Brien said, and as a consequence U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would likely be unable to certify that the city maintains a “high degree” of autonomy. This would result in the imposition of sanctions against China under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, O’Brien said.
Pompeo has already called the proposal a “death knell” for Hong Kong’s autonomy. O’Brien warned that Hong Kong could lose its status as a major hub for global finance.
“It’s hard to see how Hong Kong could remain the Asian financial center that it’s become if China takes over,” O’Brien told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.” He said financial services initially came to Hong Kong because of the rule of law that protected free enterprise and a capitalist system.
“If all those things go away, I’m not sure how the financial community can stay there. …They’re not going to stay in Hong Kong to be dominated by the People’s Republic of China, the communist party.”
The legislation was announced during the annual session of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress. The session had been delayed for months during the coronavirus pandemic. Hong Kong faced months of at times violent anti-government protests before the pandemic effectively shut China down.
Hong Kong has been governed under the “one country, two systems” principle since the former British colony was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The system give Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy and a greater degree of freedom for the special administrative region than the rest of China.
A draft decision on “establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms” for Hong Hong was submitted to China’s parliament Friday, according to state news agency Xinhua. A document explaining the decision said the one-country two systems principle “has achieved unprecedented success in Hong Kong,” but the “increasingly notable national security risks” in the city “have become a prominent problem,” according to Xinhua.
The document says activities “have seriously challenged the bottom line of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, harmed the rule of law, and threatened national sovereignty, security and development interests,” according to Xinhua.
The move from China has incited strong opposition from pro-democracy activists and politicians. Thousands of protesters demonstrated for the first time since the introduction of the national security laws on Sunday. Hong Kong police fired tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
In the city, 52 people died of coronavirus in the 24 hours ending Friday evening. The total death toll rose to 21,138. There have been nearly 195,000 COVID-19 cases in the five boroughs.
Crowds made the bustling shopping district of Causeway Bay, shouting “Hong Kong independence, the only way out,” and other slogans.
“China wants to control us. We just want to be ourselves and live with our freedoms, so that’s why we are here,” one protester who said her last name Yu, 37, told NBC News. She did not want her full name to be published to protect her privacy.
Police fire tear gas on protesters demonstrating against new security legislation in Hong Kong on May 24, 2020.Isaac Lawrence / AFP – Getty Images
“It’s not too late,” she said, although she admitted she did not think the protest would “change anything because the Chinese government is being unreasonable.”
But she added that they wanted “to show everyone in the world that we are not giving up, we are not afraid of the Chinese government.”
Although they had planned to march for about two miles, the demonstrators only made it a short distance before they met a police line. After the tear gas was fired, small groups broke off, followed by officers.
The protest is the first since China’s National People’s Congress — the country’s annual grand political convention where major policy is passed by the ruling Communist Party — announced on Thursday it would deliberate a bill on “establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms” for Hong Kong in order to “safeguard national security.”
The bill would allow China to sidestep the territory’s own legislative body to crack down on activity Beijing considers subversive and represented a major turning point.
Pro-democracy supporters take part in an anti-government rally on Sunday.Anthony Kwan / Getty Images
It is widely expected to pass ending the unique model aimed at guaranteeing freedoms not granted on the mainland that has been in place since the territory was handed to China after British colonial rule ended in 1997.
A free press and independent judiciary are among the thing currently allowed in the semi-autonomous city.
China has dismissed other countries’ complaints about the proposed legislation as “meddling,” saying the proposed laws will not harm Hong Kong autonomy or foreign investors.
Sunday’s march, the largest since COVID-19 lockdowns began, was initially organized against a national anthem bill but the proposed national security laws sparked calls for more people to take to the streets.
Police said in a Facebook post at least 180 people had been arrested in Sunday’s protests.
In a separate statement, they said that “rioters smashed and broke traffic lights,” and had “blocked multiple roads” with trash cans and “other miscellaneous objects.”
A spokesman for Hong Kong’s government also condemned the protests.
“As the epidemic eases, the rioters, once again, on the pretext of opposing the legislation on national security, took part in unlawful assemblies and engaged in violent and illegal acts,” he said.
“These violent acts, which abounded in the second half of last year, pose a serious threat to public safety and are outrageous,” he added.
Demonstrators nonetheless insisted they would continue to protest again the new law.
One who identified herself by her last name, Lang, said: “There is nothing else we can do really. We have to do something that is helpful instead of just giving up.”
She did not want her full name to be published to protect her privacy.
Lang also admitted that it was “unlikely” that the Chinese government would listen to them, she said: “We can only hope for change.”
Biden said during a radio interview to those having a hard time ‘figuring out’ whether to support him or Trump ‘ain’t black;’ South Carolina Senator Tim Scott reacts on ‘Fox and Friends Weekend.’
“That is why he is in the position he is in, which only reinforces the negative narrative that Joe Biden ‘ain’t woke,'” he remarked.
Biden made the comments on Charlamagne tha God’s radio show Friday morning. Later that day, the former vice president publicly apologized, admitting he “shouldn’t have been so cavalier.”
Scott accused Biden of pandering to his audience, assuming that they were not intelligent enough to figure it out.
For Scott, it also calls into question Biden’s record with the African-American electorate.
“Think about the 1994 crime bill that disproportionately targeted African-American males,” he urged. “What did President Trump do? He came back with the First Step Act and said, ‘We’re going to have fairness in sentencing. We’re going to help people [who are] coming out not [to] return.’ That is a form of compassion that could be measured by the lives changed by the families impacted.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., shake hands before the second of two Democratic presidential primary debates hosted by CNN Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in the Fox Theatre in Detroit. (AP)
“And so, for Joe Biden to say to 1.3 million African-Americans who voted for President Trump that they ‘ain’t black’ is arrogant, condescending and it frankly speaks to the families of the 1.3 million African-Americans as well,” he told the “Friends Weekend” hosts.
“And frankly, I am just amazed that the last decade Democrats have had an entitlement mentality that they are entitled to the black vote,” Scott concluded.
MIAMI – A Miami woman faked her son’s abduction after trying to drown him twice, with witnesses rescuing the boy from a canal the first time, and the second attempt ending in the boy’s death, officials said Saturday.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Patricia Ripley, 45, is facing attempted and premeditated murder charges and being held in jail with no bond. No attorney was listed in jail records.
The boy, Alejandro Ripley, 9, was autistic and nonverbal. He was found floating in a canal Friday.
In an interview Saturday, Fernandez Rundle said Ripley apparently tried to drown her son an hour earlier at a different canal but nearby residents heard yelling and rescued him. Then, Fernandez Rundle said, Ripley drove her son to another canal.
“Unfortunately when she took him to the second canal, and there was no one there,” Fernandez Rundle said in an interview with The Associated Press. “She tried it once, and people rescued him. He was alive. He could have stayed alive. She intended, from all the facts of the case, to kill him.”
Fernandez Rundle said an autopsy was being done on the boy Saturday to determine if he had other injuries or perhaps had something toxic in his system. She said no decision has been made yet on whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
Fernandez Rundle also noted that because the boy was nonverbal, he could not have told his initial rescuers what had happened with his mother.
“He can’t say anything to his rescuers. We talk about children being voiceless. This is another level of voicelessness. He was incapable of saying that ‘mommy put me in the water.’”
Miami-Dade police department says the mother first claimed she was ambushed by two black men who demanded drugs and took her cellphone, tablet and son, before fleeing Thursday night, prompting an Amber Alert in the area south of Miami.
The boy’s body was pulled out of a golf course canal early Friday as police continued to interrogate the woman.
An arrest affidavit says she provided “conflicting statements,” and finally was confronted with statements of witnesses and video footage showing the first attempt to push the boy into the canal.
The document says she recanted her story and admitted she drove to another site and led the boy into the canal stating “he’s going to be in a better place.”
Los Angeles County public health officials Saturday announced 1,032 new cases of the coronavirus and 41 related deaths but also revealed encouraging signs of progress in slowing the virus’s spread.
“Thanks to everyone’s efforts, our data points to steady declines in hospitalizations, deaths and the percent of people testing positive,” Barbara Ferrer, the county health director, said Saturday in a statement.
The county has seen a 13% decrease in its latest seven-day average of deaths per day and a 16% decrease in its most recent three-day average of hospitalizations per day, according to a Department of Health dashboard that tracks metrics related to recovery.
In addition, the percentage of people who have tested positive in L.A. County has reached an all-time low of 8.5%, compared with 28% in New York City, Ferrer said.
On Saturday, Ferrer attributed the high case counts to ramped up testing.
“The increase we see in our number of cases is because we have increased the number of people we are testing, and this is a good thing,” she said.
The county was meeting its goal of testing 15,000 residents each day, with a seven-day average of 17,901 daily tests performed, the dashboard states. As of Saturday, more than 436,000 people had been tested and received their results.
“We are testing more people per capita in L.A. County than the state of California, the state of Washington, the state of Georgia, the United States, and Seattle King-County,” Ferrer said.
That comes as a number of new testing sites have been established by both L.A. city and county authorities.
“This site isn’t special just because of where it is and all those amazing memories we have of going to Chavez Ravine to see the boys in blue play,” Garcetti said. “It’s remarkable because we’ll be able to test up to 6,000 people a day.”
The number of confirmed coronavirus case in Afghanistan has topped 10,000 amid continued surges of transmission in the capital, Kabul, and Herat – while the country woke up to a rare period of calm after recent violence.
Around half of the tests done in a 24-hour period came back positive across the country. The health ministry tested 1,206 suspected patients, of whom 584 came out positive. Two patients also died overnight, taking the total number of confirmed infections to 10,582 and the death toll to 218. There have been 1,075 recoveries.
Most of the new infections were reported in Kabul, with 324 cases coming back positive from 571 tests. Kabul is the country’s worst-affected area for transmissions, with 3,784 confirmed cases and 29 deaths.
The eastern province of Nangarhar and western province of Herat, which have both seen surges in the number of new infections in recent days, recorded 135 new cases combined. Herat is the country’s worst-affected area for deaths, with 35 patients losing their lives to Covid-19.
Sunday is the first day of Eid in Afghanistan and concerns are high as, despite the government-mandated lockdown, people continue to break the regulations. According to a Guardian tally, Afghanistan recorded 3,920 new cases in the seven days before Eid – a record high.
Wahid Majroh, the country’s deputy health minister, warned the nation on Saturday that the “catastrophe” of coronavirus is spreading across the country and said the nation has only two options for Eid: “You either stay at home and safe, or go out to visit your relatives and friends – which [can] cause everyone in your family [to become] infected”.
He said the ministry is concerned about people breaking lockdown rules. “When people were heeding, the daily number of infections was was just about 250 – but now, as the people continue to break the rules and we test more, the number is rising.”
Majroh, who escaped an assassination attempt unharmed on Saturday, said the ministry is preparing more hospital beds for Covid-19 patients. Early last week, he said the country had run out of hospital beds for them in most areas.
Meanwhile, Afghans woke up to a rare period of calm as the Taliban announced a ceasefire for the three days of Eid. Its leadership instructed fellow fighters to stop their “offensive operations against the enemy … and defend only if attacked”. The Taliban’s move is only second ceasefire in around 19 years of war; they made a similar announcement in 2018.
“All Mujahedeen should be aware that nobody can go the enemy’s control areas and from the opposite side, nobody is allowed to get into Mujahedeen’s areas,” the Taliban said in a statement. The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, welcomed the move and said he has instructed Afghan forces to “comply with the three-day truce and to defend only if attacked”.
The golf outing came a day after Trump said houses of worship are “essential” and he demanded that governors allow them to reopen during the holiday weekend. It also followed guidance from Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, that it was OK for people to be outdoors this weekend as long as they took appropriate safety precautions.
Trump pulled away from the White House on a sunny morning wearing a white polo shirt, white cap and dark slacks. Photographs that appeared later on Twitter showed him swinging a golf club and driving alone in a cart on the course at his private Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
The White House had no comment on the president’s activities at the club, but said he had discussed the pandemic’s effect on the global economy with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.
The golf trip was the president’s first visit to one of his money-making properties since March 8, when he visited his private golf club in West Palm Beach during a weekend at his Florida home. The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic on March 11, and Trump followed with the national emergency declaration two days later.
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Trump is an avid golfer who has been overheard telling his White House guests how much he missed playing the game.
On Friday, Birx said it’s OK for Americans to play golf, tennis or other sports this weekend “if you stay 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart.” She also said the Washington metropolitan area had the highest positivity rate in the country. The capital city’s coronavirus death rate is higher than all but four states: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The U.S. leads the world with a reported 1.6 million coronavirus cases and more than 96,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Trump has ordered U.S. flags on federal buildings and national monuments to half-staff through Sunday in memory of Americans lost to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Trump levied frequent criticism of Barack Obama’s regular golf outings when he was president.
“Can you believe that with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf. Worse than Carter,” Trump tweeted in October 2014 during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, comparing Obama to former President Jimmy Carter.
Mr. Biden’s other rivals have aided his fund-raising since he became the party’s presumptive nominee. Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., raised $1 million in a “grass roots” online fund-raiser on Friday. Mr. Buttigieg is scheduled to appear at more fund-raising events with Mr. Biden next week, as is Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Senator Kamala Harris of California, businessman Andrew Yang and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, all former rivals, are set to appear at Biden fund-raising events in June.
Women for Trump co-chair Madison Gesiotto weighs in.
President Trump’s 2020 campaign has quickly created a new website as part of efforts to capitalize on a controversy that has engulfed Democratic rival Joe Biden — after the former vice president said that black Americans who have a hard time “figuring out” whether to support him or Trump “ain’t black.”
Biden made the remarks in an interview Friday morning with “The Breakfast Club,” a nationally broadcast morning talk show popular with black listeners. After host Charlamagne tha God said he had “more questions” for him before November, Biden defended his record with on issues affecting black Americans.
“I tell you, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black,” he said.
Biden walked back the remarks the same day, later saying: “I shouldn’t have been so cavalier.”
“I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy,” Biden said. “… No one should have to vote for any party, based on their race or religion or background.”
But the remarks drew swift criticism from across the political spectrum, in particular from the Trump campaign — which sought to highlight the remarks.
Within hours it created www.youaintblack.com. The website, with the logo “Black Voices for Trump 2020,” quotes the remarks in massive lettering, and includes a video that repeats Biden remarks with the word “racist” over his face and a number that supporters are encouraged to text “Woke.”
“It’s a reminder that Biden thinks he owns the Black vote and that he can dictate what Black people do,” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted.
The website also includes a link not only to various social media sites for “Black Voices for Trump” but also a link to the Trump store, where supporters can now buy “#YouAintBlack” T-shirts.
“Joe Biden actually told Black Americans they ‘AIN’T BLACK’ if they support President Donald J. Trump!” the website says. “Sport this shirt and make sure NO ONE forgets the words #YouAintBlack came out of Joe Biden’s mouth!”
Politico reported that Trump’s campaign is planning on spending $1 million on an ad blitz to capitalize on the remark, with a video montage highlighting the comment, as well as an ad focusing on Biden’s support for the 1994 crime bill, which it will say “destroyed millions of black lives.”
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
A Miami woman claimed two carjackers kidnapped her young son with autism after she tried to drown him twice, though witnesses were only able to save him the first time, officials said Saturday.
Patricia Ripley, 45, is now facing attempted and premeditated a murder charges in the death of 9-year-old Alejandro Ripley, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told The Associated Press. She is being held without bail; jail records don’t list an attorney.
Alejandro was nonverbal; his body was found in a canal near a golf course close to where he was last seen late Thursday.
Ripley apparently tried to drown her son an hour earlier at another canal, but nearby residents heard yelling and rescued him, Fernandez Rundle told AP. Then, Ripley drove her son to another canal.
“Unfortunately, when she took him to the second canal and there was no one there,” Fernandez Rundle said. “She tried it once, and people rescued him. He was alive. He could have stayed alive. She intended, from all the facts of the case, to kill him.”
Ripley initially told authorities two black men in a light blue sedan cut her off while she was driving, blocked her van and demanded drugs. When she insisted that she didn’t have any drugs, one man took her cellphone and grabbed her son before they drove off, she had claimed.
Her story prompted Florida officials to issue a statewide Amber Alert for Alejandro.
But Ripley finally confessed after police confronted her with witness statements and surveillance footage of her first attempt at pushing Alejandro into the water, according to AP.
An arrest affidavit states Ripley recanted her story and admitted she drove to another site and led the boy into the canal, telling police that “he’s going to be in a better place.”
Fernandez Rundle pointed out that Alejandro couldn’t have told his initial rescuers that his mother tried to kill him.
“He can’t say anything to his rescuers. We talk about children being voiceless. This is another level of voicelessness. He was incapable of saying that ‘mommy put me in the water.’”
If you’re planning to head down to the Jersey Shore during this long holiday weekend, have fun — but remember, this will not be an ordinary Memorial Day weekend.
That’s the message Gov. Phil Murphy shared at his daily coronavirus press briefing on Friday, during which he reminded New Jersey residents that most beaches and boardwalks will be open this weekend, but health and safety guidelines must continue to be followed across the Jersey Shore.
“As we enter this weekend — yes please enjoy it, but don’t get complacent,” Murphy said. “Keep up with your social distancing and wear a face covering, please, if you’re going out — especially if you’re somewhere where social distances are hard to keep.”
“I hope it’s 85, sunny, and low humidity, but it’s going to be none of that this weekend,” Murphy said. “I’m not happy to say that by any means. I’d prefer it to be otherwise, but in this extraordinary moment it probably gives us — almost certainly gives us — an opportunity to creep into the summer a little more gradually.”
Despite these expectations, all local officials are required to enforce social distancing measures, implement capacity limitations, regularly sanitize facilities, and prohibit all contact sports and organized events at beaches across the state.
The exact rules will vary from place to place. Some will restrict boardwalk activity. Some will have public bathrooms open, some closed. Some will ban swimming. Some will limit surfing hours. Some will have lifeguards at a limited number of beaches.
Several Shore towns are enforcing even tighter regulations than those requested by state officials. For example, Sea Girt is electing to keep its boardwalk closed this weekend, and Spring Lake is asking its beachgoers to maintain a distance of 6 feet from each other and 12 feet from other groups while sunbathing.
Here is a breakdown of the others kinds of restrictions you can expect to see at the Jersey Shore this weekend. As you will see, the policies vary widely from town to town.
All beaches will be open for recreational activities, as well as for swimming and sunbathing. Families are permitted to congregate in groups of up to 10 people, and romantic partners are allowed to sit together as well.
All beachgoers are asked to wear masks.
Throughout the pre-season weekends, lifeguards will be on only four beaches: the ones at Roosevelt Boulevard and 16th, 26th and 38th streets.
The Cove Beach recreational area will remain closed to vehicular traffic until further notice. The promenade at the sea wall remains closed.
Running, walking, surfing, fishing, sunbathing, and sitting on the beach will all be permitted from sunrise to sunset.
Swimming, organized sports in which social distancing cannot be practiced, and group gatherings are prohibited.
Public restrooms, showers and water fountains remain closed until further notice.
The borough currently does not have beach tags for sale. It has said tags will be available after the beach season opens and once the beach is staffed on or about the third weekend in June.
Sunbathing will be permitted at all beaches beginning this Friday.
The Beach Patrol will be present, but only up to four beaches will be open for swimming both this weekend and the weekend of May 30, weather permitting.
Large gatherings are prohibited.
Beach tags are on sale at the Pavilion but are not required to be worn to enter the beach until June 6.
Beaches will open for sunbathing Saturday. The boardwalk will reopen Friday.
Swimming at guarded beaches will also be allowed on at the normal four pre-season beaches, including those on Headquarters Suffolk, Dorset, New Haven and Lafayette avenues. Swimming will expand to all guarded beaches as the season progresses.
Surfing and paddle boarding are also permitted, as are singles rowing and kayaking. Gathering in groups on the beach is not.
Ventnor officials are asking beachgoers to change and prepare for surfing off the beach and boardwalk until those areas are reopened.
Bicycle riding on the boardwalk is prohibited until Friday, May 29.
Beach badges will be required from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
A scene from the beach in Cape May last summer, many months before the coronavirus arrived in New Jersey.
Beginning Friday, the Avalon Boardwalk will reopen. On the beaches, passive recreation including beach chairs, blankets and sunbathing are permissible and lifeguards will be on duty for the summer.
Families who come to the beach are required to remain at least 6 feet apart from other blankets and chairs.
Lifeguards will be on duty beginning Friday, but no beach tags will be required on the beaches until Friday, July 3.
The Ocean City Beach Patrol will begin guarding the following beaches on Memorial Day weekend to ensure that social distancing guidelines are being followed: St. Charles Place and Brighton places as well as 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 26th, 34th and 58th streets.
Groups of 10 or more are prohibited. Tents and canopies will not be permitted on the beaches between 1st and 10th streets. On all other beaches, they will be limited in size to 8 feet wide by 6 feet deep by 6 feet tall, and they must be placed at the back of the beaches within 10 feet of the seaward side of the dunes.
Hand sanitization stations have been installed at regular intervals along the boardwalk, which is open for walking, running, bicycling and for access to takeout food. Public restrooms on the boardwalk are open and being sanitized throughout the day.
The public has regular access to the beaches but must maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet from others at all times while on the beach and promenade — with the exception of their immediate family and household members.
Beach tags are required beginning Memorial Day weekend.
Residents are allowed to sit and sunbathe. Swimming will also be permitted when lifeguards are on duty, beginning Saturday.
Beach visitors must remain at least 6 feet apart, excluding family members, caretakers, household members or romantic partners. Groups at the beaches should be limited to 10 or fewer people.
All beaches in Wildwood Crest are free and do not require beach tags.
People flock to the Wildwoods Boardwalk, Saturday, May 2, 2020. The Wildwoods Boardwalk reopened on Friday for restaurants to offer take-out and delivery to customers.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The beach and boardwalk remain open, though individuals must adhere to social distancing guidelines, according to Paul McDonnell, beach manager of the Allenhurst Beach Club.
Members and guests of the Allenhurst Beach Club will gain admittance to their beaches. Other Allenhurst beaches are open to the public.
The pool remains closed.
Swimming and sunbathing are both allowed, and lifeguards will be on duty. If the beaches become too crowded, capacity limitations will be put into place.
Social distancing will be required on the beach, meaning that groups of beachgoers, including families, household members, caretakers and couples, must sit at least 6 feet apart from others.
Face coverings or masks are recommended when walking on the boardwalk, entering or exiting the beach, or using the restroom facilities. They do not need to be worn when swimming or sunbathing.
To maintain social distancing, the boardwalk has been set up for one-way travel in each direction and benches have been removed to eliminate congregation.
Overall beach capacity will be controlled by limiting the number of beach passes sold. Individual areas of the beach will be monitored daily and access points may be closed to ensure proper social distancing.
Asbury Park Convention Hall will remain closed until further notice, but restrooms will be accessible to the public from the beach side entrance.
The beach and boardwalk are open with social distancing guidelines in place.
The Belmar Social Distancing Task Force and Belmar Police Department are actively surveying the beach, boardwalk and beach badge sales to ensure that individuals are practicing social distancing.
No dogs are allowed on the beach or boardwalk, while bicycling, rollerblading and skateboarding are all prohibited.
Beach badges will be required seven days a week until Labor Day.
The sale of seasonal badges will be temporarily suspended beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday in response to the crowds of people purchasing them in recent days.
The sale will resume on Tuesday at the Taylor Pavilion.
Beginning Saturday, the beach will be staffed and open to season and daily badge holders. On Tuesday, the beach will be staffed on a daily basis by lifeguards, and swimming will be permitted.
Members of the public are required to practice social distancing and stay 6 feet apart whenever practicable, excluding immediate family members, caretakers, household members or romantic partners.
Showers and restrooms will be in use with a proactive cleaning process in place, but water fountains, picnic areas, playgrounds and pavilions will remain unavailable.
Boardwalk benches are dually unavailable. Bicycles are banned from the boardwalk from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m.
Groups of more than 10 are prohibited from the beaches. Police will be consistently present throughout the beachfront area to ensure that social distancing guidelines are being followed by beachgoers.
The deck, pool and casino area of the Deal Casino Beach Club remain closed to the public. Only members and their guests will be allowed entry to beaches.
Face coverings are required to be worn at beach entry points and when going to the bathroom or the snack bar.
Restrooms will be open, but capacity limitations will be enforced.
Police and beach staff will be monitoring and enforcing social distancing requirements. Beachgoers are asked to wear masks upon entering and exiting the beach.
No groups larger than 10 people will be allowed on the beach.
Bathrooms remain closed, though portable johns will be available to the public. Showers will also be available.
If social distancing becomes too difficult to maintain at an access point, that beach entrance will be temporarily closed and patrons will be directed north or south to the next open beach access point.
Beginning May 22, seasonal pass holders alone can access the beach.
Each beach day, overall capacity will be monitored regularly and determinations will be made if needed to reduce or restrict access to certain beaches.
Beach access will be limited to the nine access ramps, which include Potters, Sea Watch, Ocean, Riddle, Main, Brielle, Pompano, Whiting and Inlet. The beach walk will remain closed north-to-south, and use will be limited to east-to-west crossings to access the beach at the listed locations.
Restroom facilities at Ocean, Brielle and Main will be open, with new procedures for regular cleaning.
To avoid overcrowding, beach access will be controlled by limiting the number of daily and seasonal beach badges sold to beachgoers. When shoreline maximum capacity is reached, the beach will be closed to additional visitors.
All beach staff will be required to wear masks. Lifeguard stands have been donated by the Ocean Grove Beach Foundation to ensure that only one lifeguard will be sitting in one bench at a time.
Boardwalk benches have been taped off to prevent large gatherings, and larger public bathroom buildings are closed. Singular-occupancy portable toilets will be available for use.
Swimming at Sandy Hook will be “at your own risk,” according to the National Park Service, as lifeguards will not be on duty during the holiday weekend. Swimmers will not be subject to summonses for going in the water, the department said.
There is a $15 charge per day for beach parking from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Parking Lot A North Beach/K Lot parking areas have been closed.
Sea Bright public beaches will be fully staffed beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The municipal parking lot is open for parking, but capacity will be reduced when necessary to limit the number of patrons with access to the beach.
Each beach day, overall capacity will be monitored regularly by beach staff designated solely for this purpose.
The walkway on top of the sea wall will be closed, although the stairs on the sea wall will be open for east-west crossings to gain access to the beach.
The public restrooms will be open, with up to three patrons at one time allowed to enter. These patrons are encouraged to wear face coverings. The showers and foot wash stations will not be available.
Beginning May 23, beaches will be open every weekend at all access points. Residents will be allowed to lounge but must maintain a distance of at least 6 feet between all people and at least 12 feet between their towel/chairs and those of other beachgoers. Large groups and gatherings are prohibited.
Masks must be worn when entering with the beach staff, on access walks from the street to the beach, and when going to the restrooms, snack bars and pavilion locker areas.
No badges will be sold at the beachfront; all beachgoers must have purchased their badges in advance. The number of seasonal and daily badges will be limited and sales will close once the limit has been reached.
The boardwalk will remain closed, except at designated access points to the beach: Pitney, Lorraine, Tule, Washington, Sussex, Salem, Union and Brown Avenue walkways.
Bathrooms will be open with new cleaning protocols and social distancing guidelines enforced, although showers and water fountains will remain unavailable. Residents and visitors must wear masks when utilizing the bathrooms, snack bars and beach access points and when interacting with beach staff, lifeguards or police officers.
Food is temporarily allowed on the beach due to the boardwalk’s closure.
Beginning June 15, the beach will be open and staffed daily.
The scene at Pier Village in Long Branch, N.J. as many enjoy a banner beach afternoon at the Jersey Shore on Sunday, May 3, 2020. Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Brick Beach 1 and Windward Beach Park will be open to swimming beginning Friday, May 23. All beaches will be open daily beginning June 15 and will be subject to new safety measures put in place.
The number of daily beach badges sold will be limited to prevent crowding.
Beachgoers will be required to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Beachgoers may access the beach for exercising, fishing, sunbathing and surfing as long as they continue to practice social distancing.
The boardwalk will be reopen Friday for walking and exercising, but bicycles are prohibited. Individuals using the boardwalk are asked to keep as far right as possible to increase distance while passing others and continually keep 6 feet of separation from non-family members.
Badges will not be required until June 20, when lifeguards will be on duty at the beaches. Badge limitation may be imposed if conditions at the beachfront become unsafe.
Badge checkers and lifeguards will be staffed beginning June 20. Until then, beachgoers must practice social distancing and are asked to wear a mask upon entering the beach.
At present day, the borough does not intend to restrict the number of badges being sold, but if this must occur, daily badges, rather than seasonal ones, will be limited.
Walkways will be closed once capacity limits are reached, and beachgoers will be instructed to move north or south on the beach to enter at the next available walkway.
At Maryland Avenue Beach, badges will be required on Memorial Day weekend and weekends only throughout early June. Starting June 20, badges will be required at all times.
The beach will be held to a maximum capacity limit. When the daily capacity is reached, no more patrons will be allowed.
No groups of 10 people or more will be allowed onto the beach. Beachgoers must maintain a minimum of 6 feet of distance from others at all times.
Swimming will be permitted only when badge checkers and lifeguards are present.
Beginning Saturday, beach badges will be required for entry to the beach and boat ramp passes will be needed for the 14th Avenue boat ramp on weekends through June 30, at which point the beach will be open daily.
Badges sales will be monitored and limited if necessary.
Gatherings of 10 or more people are prohibited from the beach and boardwalk.
Ortley Beach will be manned by lifeguards on Memorial Day weekend and every weekend thereafter until June 20, at which point it will be staffed daily.
The boardwalk has been reopened. Signs are posted at each beach entrance encouraging social distancing. Patrons are recommended but not required to wear masks.
Beaches are open and all individuals must adhere to social distancing guidelines, including staying 6 feet apart — with the exception of immediate family members.
The park is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., though fishing is allowed from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Restrooms at Swimming Area 1 are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. All other restrooms closed.
Beginning in mid-June, lifeguards will be on duty and swimming will be permitted.
Social distancing is required and parking capacity has been reduced to 50%.
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