Beach crowds lead California to increase enforcement of coronavirus public health restrictions

California will step up enforcement of coronavirus-related public health restrictions after crowds jammed beaches over the weekend, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Monday. Newsom's announcement came after local officials in Orange and Ventura Counties allowed access to their beaches even as state parks remained closed, prompting families and groups to head to the ocean on a warm spring weekend.

The crowds put at risk the state's progress in slowing the advance of coronavirus and possibly could delay a possible loosening of restrictions that was just weeks away, said Newsom, a Democrat. The beach crowds exemplify the tension that officials throughout the United States are dealing with as residents chafe under stay-at-home orders and some states begin to loosen them.

Newsom said he would not direct state police or park rangers to issue citations to individuals who were just out quietly with their children or walking their dogs. "I don't want to be punitive," he said. "They just want to take a rest on the beach and all of a sudden they get a citation - I don't want to see that. But if there are people thumbing their nose and taking a risk… I think we may have to do a little bit more."