Swimming, running and walking is allowed. No chairs, coolers or umbrellas. The parking lots are closed, for now

This content is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Sign up for our daily or breaking newsletters to stay informed. If local news is important to you, consider becoming a digital subscriber to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

***

SARASOTA COUNTY — Sarasota County’s world-famous beaches have been nearly empty for a month, but that will change on Monday.

County commissioners have unanimously decided to open part of the county’s 35 miles of shoreline for biking, running, walking, swimming and surfing. Lido Beach, which is under the city of Sarasota’s purview, will remain closed.

Also not allowed are group activities such as beach yoga and drum circles.

#apolloLink{color:#000;background-color:#F4BE11;text-shadow: none;padding: 8px 15px 10px;font-family: 'Roboto', sans-serif;font-weight: 600;border-radius:10px;}

See our complete coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Parking lots will not reopen, in an effort to keep people from bringing chairs, blankets and umbrellas onto the beach. While commissioners will revisit the issue in the coming weeks, some feared that it would cause vehicles to pile up in surrounding neighborhoods.

County Administrator Jonathan Lewis left it up to municipalities to end or continue their beach closures. Venice officials plan to allow some access, with a policy that mirrors the county’s.

But citing limited local testing and fearing that lessening restrictions too early could “backfire,” City Manager Tom Barwin said that opening Lido would be “premature.”

“We surely do not want to go through this again,” Barwin said. “I know how hard this has been for everybody, but our recovery needs to be smart, well thought-out, rock solid and sustainable.”

Charlotte County also announced Tuesday that it would reopen Englewood and Port Charlotte beaches without restrictions on Monday. Manatee County beaches remain closed but commissioners may discuss it at the next emergency meeting next Tuesday.

While Venice Mayor Ron Feinsod said he supported allowing limited access to area beaches, he added that he was “not thrilled with the scattered approach.”

“I prefer to see us work together on this,” Feinsod said. “From Charlotte to Venice to Sarasota County, the city and Manatee County. Taking a scattered approach to it opens too many possible places of confusion and for the virus to spread again.”

Jacksonville area were the first to reopen its beaches on Friday — bringing hordes of eager beachgoers back, mostly walking and jogging.

Beaches in Flagler County on Florida’s east coast reopened for limited recreation Wednesday. Two counties in Florida’s Panhandle — Okaloosa and Bay — voted Tuesday to reopen the beaches for recreational activities. Lawmakers in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties are deciding whether to follow suit.

Most communities are keeping beach opening times to a few hours in mornings and evenings and are barring any lounging on chairs and towels with coolers. Officials want to prevent social gatherings with shared food and drink that could spread COVID-19, while promoting healthful recreation.

Mental health and exercise were the key reasons behind Sarasota County’s decision to partially allow beaches to re-open.

Sarasota County has been “cooped up; you can only keep the lid on Americans for so long,” said Commissioner Christian Ziegler, who supported opening the beaches with no restrictions.

“Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know what to do to protect yourself,” said Chairman Michael Moran. “Now that everyone is educated on (health guidelines), now it’s time to open up our lives.”

Reopening Sarasota County

#apolloLink{color:#000;background-color:#F4BE11;text-shadow: none;padding: 8px 15px 10px;font-family: 'Roboto', sans-serif;font-weight: 600;border-radius:10px;}

SUPPORT LOCAL NEWS: Consider subscribing today

Commissioners appear to want to “slow walk” opening Sarasota County and plan to have conversations about what that might look like in the coming weeks.

Chuck Henry, a health officer with the Florida Department of Health, urged “great caution” as the county begins to discuss loosening up certain restrictions.

Whether Florida has seen the worst of the coronavirus crisis is unclear. The number of new cases reported each day appears to have leveled off, but every day still brings a substantial number of new infections and deaths.

The county’s stockpiles of personal protective equipment are “starting to catch up to where we need to be, we are not 100% across the community,” Henry said.

While Henry did not specifically address how many testing kits were available, he said the county has “adequate supplies.”

“It would be wise for us to have plenty on hand in the future,” Henry said. “From a public health perspective, the biggest key action we can do is identify cases and do more contact tracing. The more we can rapidly identify cases and reach out and contact and then quarantine.”

Area hospitals have stopped elective surgeries and emptied out most of their beds. As of Wednesday morning, the area’s four hospitals reported ICU bed capacity at 49% and about 54% capacity for general beds.

The county’s emergency managers are in discussions about reopening libraries and other services. Still, commissioners remain cautious about when and how quickly to reopen.

“It’s a tug of war between liberty and keeping people safe,” said Ziegler.