Coronavirus: Central Coast beach patrol season stopped
Central Coast beaches will no longer be patrolled in an effort to minimise the spread of coronavirus.
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The red and yellow flags will be taken down at all Central Coast beaches from today.
Surf Life Saving Central Coast and Central Coast Council have announced the end to patrol season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Both council’s lifeguards and Surf Life Saving’s volunteer patrols will stop at all 15 beaches across the region and not start again until September.
The move comes after Bondi Beach and other beaches across Sydney were closed this week due to people not paying attention to social distancing rules.
On Sunday, surf lifesavers from Avoca Beach were forced to ask people to voluntarily leave due to the large numbers.
Council’s chief executive Officer, Gary Murphy said the decision responded to Federal and State Government calls to ensure compliance with physical distancing and banning outdoor gatherings of 500 or more people.
“Unfortunately, the swim between the flags message is encouraging people to congregate in close proximity,” Mr Murphy said.
“Our job right now is ensuring we play our part in managing as best we can the spread of coronavirus and protecting the health and wellbeing of our staff and community. Lifeguards and volunteer lifesavers’ job is not crowd control and social group management.
“Their important roles of keeping children, families and all beachgoers safe at the patrolled beach areas is being compromised during these unprecedented times.”
Surf Life Saving Central Coast chief executive officer Jon Harkness said the early end to beach season did not mean the end of beach safety education.
“Every single beach goer has a personal responsibility to be surf smart if they get in the water, and particularly adults and carers must watch and care for their children at beaches always,” he said.
“We will continue to promote beach safety and connect families, young and senior people across the Central Coast in preparation for the coming season, even when we are not patrolling the beaches.
“We know that this decision may seem counterintuitive as we approach the Easter long weekend break and potentially longer school holiday period. But these are not ordinary times and they require us to take all the precautions we can to keep our staff and the general public safe.”