Pinellas County will reopen beaches and pools, with some restrictions

Commissioners overwhelmingly approved today’s measure, while Ken Welch was the only no vote.

Pinellas County will reopen beaches and pools, with some restrictions
PHOTO VIA ADOBE IMAGES


On Tuesday, Pinellas County Commissioners voted to reopen public beaches and pools located at hotels, condominiums and commercial businesses.

Public beaches will reopen 7 a.m. on Monday, May 4, while hotel, condo and commercial pools will be able to reopen starting 6 a.m. Thursday, April 30. Authorities say pools must remain at 50% capacity, while beaches will open for all activities (even tanning) as long as six-foot social distancing is practiced, and groups are limited to less than 10 people. 

Parking lots at beaches and playgrounds at child care facilities will also reopen. 

Commissioners overwhelmingly approved today’s measure 6-1, while Ken Welch was the only no vote. 

Pinellas County beaches were originally closed on March 19 due to the coronavirus pandemic. As of now, Hillsborough County beaches remain closed. Last week, Sarasota County reopened their beaches. 

Meanwhile, Florida reported a record high 83 new deaths from the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, which now brings our state’s death toll to 1,191.

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Colin Wolf

Colin Wolf has been working with weekly newspapers since 2007 and has been the Digital Editor for Creative Loafing Tampa since 2019. He is also the Director of Digital Content Strategy for CL's parent company, Chava Communications.
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