Campaign part of recent efforts to hold down population during coronavirus outbreak.

Out-of-state cars lined up at local beaches and turning up in neighborhoods a month or more before seasonal visitors are usually seen have aroused concern and even outrage among some year-rounders on the Cape.

Beth Hickman, who lives in Captain’s Village in South Yarmouth, posted a petition on change.org that quickly drew signatures and comments and was nearing its goal of 7,500 Tuesday, March 31.

The petition reads: “Stop the spread of covid-19. Close the bridges. only year round residents, medical personnel. Trucks that deliver essential supplies. While we love our tourists and summer residents this is not the time to come to the cape, our hospital can’t handle it. We only have 2 small hospitals here on cape, and limited medical staff.”

Hickman said the beach parking lots on the Cape look more like they do in summer than in the quiet offseason.

“Captain’s Village has lots of people I haven’t seen before,” she said. “It’s not that I don’t want people here. We don’t have the means to take care of people who do get sick.”

The Cape needs to halt the influx, she said. “Rhode Island stops people with out-of-state plates to find out where they’re going,” she said.

Mashpee resident Stephanie Simpson signed the petition.

“I think locals are doing a pretty good job,” Simpson said of the measures people are taking to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. “People coming here don’t know the rules. I see it as they’re not aware of the lockdown.

“We are not saying we don’t want you to come over, we’re saying there’s a pandemic,” Simpson said. “You have to time your visit.”

One longtime summer resident of the Cape expressed his own outrage over the hostility he and his family experienced when they returned to Eastham a few weeks ago.

A Manhattan resident, he built his second home in Eastham in 1984. He continues to summer here with his wife and two children.

The family had self-quarantined after arriving March 12, he said, even though none of the members had shown signs of the virus.

They then circulated a note to neighbors asking if they needed any help or supplies. In response, a note was taped to the window of his car, saying, “Go back to New York and take coronavirus with you.”

“It was disconcerting to say the least," the man, who asked not to be identified, said. “That kind of sentiment is certainly not helpful.” He became concerned that further action might be taken against his family. “We left the Cape, and now we’re in the Berkshires where it’s more pleasant.”

The experience has permanently soured him on a region his family has visited for more than 30 years.

“We’re done with the Cape,” he said. “We’re not going back.”

The executive director of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce monitors social media.

“There is a lot of fear and anxiety being expressed,” Wendy Northcross said. “You’re walking a very fine line telling someone they can’t access their homes. But looking at the science and the data, we can stop the pandemic by not moving around.”

The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, Cape Cod Healthcare and Barnstable County Administrator John "Jack" Yunits Jr. have published a joint letter asking seasonal residents who come to the Cape now to self-quarantine for 14 days and to bring all prescriptions, groceries, cleaning supplies and self-care items with them so they don’t deplete the limited supply the region has.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital and Martha’s Vineyard Hospital have urged the seasonal property owners to stay away from the Islands. Their statement, in part, said: “For your safety and to save lives, we strongly advise you to STAY AT HOME. The perception that the Islands are a safe haven is not realistic given the limited number of personnel, critical supplies and beds. If you come to the Islands — you will only strain our limited resources, putting your life and others at risk.”

Catherine Bumpus, who lives in Woods Hole, where the population is rising with the influx of seasonal residents, was more moderate than most in her opinion, but was still concerned.

“I’m sympathetic to not wanting to be in a small space in New York or wherever, and as long as everybody is practicing social distancing, it’s OK,” Bumpus said. “I think people tend to forget — summer habits of going walking with their friends or visiting friends, there’s evidence that is happening. People fall into their summer routines.”

Bumpus said she worried about Falmouth Hospital, since it has only a small intensive-care facility.

Hickman said she plans to turn the petition to close the bridges over to state Rep. Timothy Whelan, R-Brewster, who she hopes will present it to the proper authorities.

Contacted Tuesday, March 31 Whelan said he would be “duty-bound and more than happy to forward it to the governor’s office.”

He questioned whether the public fully understood the ramifications of shutting the Cape’s two bridges.

“To close the bridges would take a declaration of martial law,” Whelan said. The result would be armed military personnel at the bridges. “My goal has been to make it through my life without ever having to live under martial law.”

Whelan said the legislative delegation from the Cape has made it clear to state officials such as Marylou Sudders, secretary of Health and Human Services, that the Cape’s year-round population has grown in recent weeks.

“Their planning has been built around that higher population,” he said.

“I don’t want to lose focus on the things that are going to keep us safe: using social distancing, following sanitary guidelines and making sure that medical workers and first responders have what they need,” Whelan said.

Follow Christine Legere on Twitter: @ChrisLegereCCT.