Never in our lifetime have we faced a health crisis as we are in now. Getting back to “normal” clearly will not be happening for a long time. Since the county has reverted to purple, concrete action is being taken to limit the number and sizes of gatherings. Given all of the closure mandates in other parts of the county, Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area must be re-closed to vehicles.
Allowing visitors from outside of SLO County lines by keeping the beach open to 1,000 vehicles daily is an invitation to continued high levels of COVID-19 cases.
Protecting our public health must be the first priority. This is a plea to our SLO County public health officer, Dr. Penny Borenstein, and the director of California State Parks, Armando Quintero, to close the park to vehicular access for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dorothy Hines
Nipomo
This article appears in Dec 24-31, 2020.