Virginia Governor Ralph Northam eased the state’s Coronavirus restrictions on beaches and water activities after thousands of sunbathers flocked to the shoreline as temperatures approached 80 degrees.
“That didn’t keep crowds away from Virginia Beach over the weekend as temperatures reached the high 70s. Sunbathers took to the sand, bikers peddled along the bustling boardwalk and newly reopened gift shops were crowded with customers buying hermit crabs and snow cones,” reports Fox News.
The beach at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront was closed today. But it was packed.
This photo was taken at 3:42 p.m. this afternoon by Virginian-Pilot photographer Kaitlin McKeown. https://t.co/Ws2EFAF976 pic.twitter.com/x3lLF1wuHT
— The Virginian-Pilot (@virginianpilot) May 17, 2020
“Following the weekend crowds, Northam announced during a press conference Monday that Virginia Beach would be allowed to reopen May 22 at the start of Memorial Day weekend, which normally kicks off the coast’s busy summer tourism season,” adds Fox.
Read the full report at Fox News.
GYM SAYS ‘ENOUGH’: NJ Gym Defies Governor’s Order, Opens for Business, Says ‘We Will Not Stand Down’
A local workout facility in New Jersey is publicly defying the Governor’s lock-down order Monday; opening for business while telling reporters “we will not stand down.”
“We made the decision to open,” said Ian Smith, the owner of Atilis Gym. “We will not stand down!”
“Governor Murphy has presented zero plans and I think my business partner and I have a plan to keep people safe,” said Smith.
“We put together a plan and the plan was first that members only so we knew who were in our doors at all times and when, something big corporations are not doing … we’ll be able to track all of that very easily. We’ll be taking temperatures at the door, according to CDC recommendations. Anybody at the time who is a 100.4 or more will not be allowed in until their fever has subsided for at least 48 hours,” Smith said.
Smith went on to say, “We got spray bottles for each individual person so that anything that they touch will be disinfected before and after use … We’ve gone above and beyond and we have listed all of the steps and it’s so far beyond what the other stores are doing that, at this point, if the governor chooses to shut us down, it is absurd.”
Read the full report at Fox News.
NJ POLICE to GYM: ‘Formally You’re All in Violation of an Executive Order, On That Note, Have a Good Day!’
New Jersey police chose not to shut-down a local gym that publicly defied the Governor’s shutdown instructions; warning people they were in “violation of an executive order” but telling them to “have a good day” before departing.
“We are and only were here for everybody’s safety today. We planned for the worst and hoped for the best, and it seems like that’s what we have out here today,” the officer said to the crowd.
“Formally, you are all in violation of the executive order. On that note, have a good day. Everybody be safe,” said the officer.
Watch the moment above.