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Santa Rosa County is closing Navarre Beach and the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier beginning at midnight Friday, becoming the latest county to close the sand to beach-goers to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Santa Rosa County Commission Chairman Don Salter confirmed the closures to the News Journal on Friday morning.

The county will also mandate that all restaurants in Santa Rosa County move to curbside pick-up or delivery, beginning at midnight Friday. Salter originally said the restaurant closures would happen at midnight Monday, but county spokeswoman Brandi Bates said the county decided to move the closures to Friday at midnight to align with the beach closures.

The county said at a news conference Thursday that it would not be closing the beaches. But Salter said the county had a change of heart after receiving urgent pleas from local medical professionals.

"We received a letter from all of the major hospitals asking us to close the beaches, and to only have curbside delivery from the restaurants," Salter said Friday. "As we said yesterday, everything changes every day. So once we got that letter from the major hospitals, we made the decision."

In a letter dated March 19 from Mark Faulkner, president and CEO of Baptist Health Care, Dawn Rudolph, president of Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital, and Gay Nord, CEO of West Florida Hospital, addressed to the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners, the hospital heads urged commissioners to take more stringent steps to stop the spread of coronavirus.

"In order to protect our residents and minimize the spread of COVID-19 in our community, we strongly urge you to take measures that will drastically limit the ability of people to congregate," the letter read. "The time is now for all of us to take actions that will encourage social distancing."

The hospitals recommended several steps for the county to take:

End in-person dining at restaurants, and immediately convert all restaurants to take-out only

Restrict all public gatherings

Close the beaches

Continue to keep community centers closed

Close libraries or re-purpose them for a "higher use"

Bates said all of those suggestions had already been done as of Friday afternoon.

In a news release, the county said that only people who live on Navarre Beach, are staying at hotels or condos on the beach, are visiting people who live or are staying on the beach or have official business on the beach would be allowed access to the island.

The sand is closed to everyone, but only those who meet the above criteria will be allowed to drive onto Navarre Beach to go to their respective destinations.

The boat ramp is open, but parking is limited.

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office will set up a checkpoint near the pier entrance, past the boat ramp entrance, to ensure only those who meet the specified criteria are driving onto Navarre Beach.

The beach will be closed indefinitely until the county determines it is safe to re-open.

"This decision was reached based on discussions with leaders in the healthcare industry, our observations of density on the beach yesterday, and an anticipated increase in the number of beachgoers as neighboring beaches close," Salter said in a news release. "This measure will decrease travel incentives and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Once we are assured by our medical professionals it is safe, our beautiful beaches will be reopened for all to enjoy."

Neighboring Okaloosa and Walton counties also decided to close their beaches. Destin decided to close its public beaches Friday morning. Escambia County officials closed Pensacola Beach on Friday, which will last through April 2.

Annie Blanks can be reached at ablanks@pnj.com or 850-435-8632.