Cape Cod lifeguards fear 'catastrophe' from enforcing coronavirus social distancing while watching for sharks
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Soon-to-be-bustling Cape Cod is bracing for a very different summer atmosphere, reopening from closures over the coronavirus -- as some lifeguards warn of danger ahead.
Among the concerns: enforcing social-distancing rules and mask requirements, which were never previously in their job descriptions, while continuing to save lives -- and watch out for sharks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BEACH TOWN BUSINESSES BRACE FOR SURVIVAL THROUGH SOCIALLY DISTANT SUMMER AMID CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
“I’m concerned with how it will play out,” Jody Craven, the head lifeguard in Wellfleet -- a Massachusetts beach town -- told the Cape Cod Times. “I don’t want to be the person who has to enforce common-sense laws that in the past haven’t been my thing to enforce.”
The Times noted that dozens of great white sharks were seen near the shore just last summer, and one shark even killed bodyboarder two years ago.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Craven said college-aged lifeguards will have to split their time between eyeing for sharks and regulating beachgoers on the shore. “I feel like we’re destined for some sort of catastrophe.”
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Massachusetts has seen over 91,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 6,000 people have died in the state.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Other restrictions due to the virus will include having 50 percent of diners in the nearly 800 restaurants on the Cape with six feet of separation between tables. In addition, eateries may be encouraged to seat diners outside to prevent the coronavirus from circulating in enclosed restaurants, a less-than-ideal solution given the sticky outdoors and the swarms of mosquitos and bugs that are common in the summertime.