By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
OCEAN CITY – Dyanne Nadeau felt a little nervous about visiting the newly reopened Ocean City Boardwalk during a pandemic. But after weeks spent mostly inside, fresh air seemed vital.
“I’m desperate to get out and see other people,” the Atlantic County resident said late Saturday morning. Bicyclists, strollers and joggers crowded the Boardwalk, although most businesses remained closed.
Mayor Jay Gillian shut down the beach and boardwalk in late March over concern about spreading COVID-19. In a letter to residents and visitors at the time, Gillian said people were not taking the directives on social distancing seriously.
The city last week reopened the beach and Boardwalk. In his May 15 message, Gillian said he was cautious but optimistic.
“The key to success – this weekend and throughout the summer – will be in adhering to social distancing. For the sake of everybody, do it yourself: Stay six feet from others, wear face coverings in buildings, in lines, and whenever you can’t maintain social distance, and wash your hands regularly,” Gillian posted to the city website Friday.
On Saturday, few people on the Boardwalk wore masks. Nadeau said if it got much more crowded she would head home.
Sitting on the far end of a bench from her friend George Hay, she said she was concerned about some of the people gathered in lines for caramel corn or pizza. Under the current state guidelines, people were not allowed in restaurants, but food could be ordered ahead and picked up. Nadeau said staff at the popcorn place worked to keep people standing apart as the line grew.
Both Nadeau and Hay wore masks as they chatted and watched people go by.
“If it stays like this it’s not bad,” Hay said. A former Ocean City resident who now lives in Somers Point, he said he missed seeing his friends on the boardwalk.
“Even the seagulls missed us,” Nadeau said, while Hay joked that they looked a little skinny since the Boardwalk has been closed. He added that the gulls did seem to be keeping more distance than he remembered.
The reason likely had nothing to do with the temporary closure. Moments later, falconer PJ Simonis walked up the boardwalk with a speckled white gyrfalcon named Betty. Last summer, he was one of the falconers who swept the Boardwalk of gulls using birds of prey, a program the city launched last summer, making news around the world. In April, City Council approved a $193,600 contract for the service for 2020.
Simonis said he did not expect to start until Memorial Day weekend, but got a call from the city asking him to start earlier.
Several people on the Boardwalk declined to be interviewed. Most of the overheard conversations centered around COVID-19 and what will happen this summer, as businesses and visitors wonder what the coming weeks will bring, both from the coronavirus and from the emergency rules from Trenton.
At the street end at Ninth Street, the parking lots were about three-quarters full and cars lined up to pick up pizzas. A crew from CNN was on the boardwalk reporting on the opening. And Jack Zielinski sat on a corner bench watching it all unfold.
He lives part-time in Ocean City and is a Boardwalk regular. He said about 80 percent of the people he saw were not wearing any face covering, later allowing that the percentage could be higher than that. Zielinski said most people seemed to be keeping an appropriate distance, but he said many of the bicyclists seemed to get to close.
He believes the bike riders are always a hazard, though.
Zielinski did not wear a mask. He said he is keeping six feet away from others and is not making contact with people.
“I’m not someone who believes it’s just flying around in the air,” he said. He believes physical contact is necessary to contract the virus.
Scientists are still learning about the virus that emerged in China late last year and spread worldwide. While federal and international agencies believe the primary way for the virus to spread is through droplets making contact from person to person from coughs, sneezes or even speaking, studies have shown that airborne transmission may be possible.
Most officials indicate it is less likely outside, but the virus and its spread is not complexly understood.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta had originally suggested masks were not needed for most people. It now recommends covering your face in social situations. They should not be surgical masks or N-95 filters, the CDC recommends, so that those supplies may be reserved for healthcare workers. People should also continue to keep at least six feet of distance, read the recommendations.
“CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission,” reads a statement on cdc.gov.
Officials say many people carrying the coronavirus show no symptoms even when they can infect others.
New Jersey’s COVID-19 recommendations say cloth face coverings can be made from bandanas or other materials and should be washed frequently. They are not recommended for those under 2 or those with difficulty breathing.
“In New Jersey, individuals must use a face covering when shopping at essential retail businesses, entering a restaurant or bar to pick up takeout orders, and when traveling on trains, buses, light rail, or paratransit vehicles,” reads the state’s recommendations. “Wearing a simple cloth face covering is not a replacement for social distancing and does not exempt anyone from social distancing requirements.”
On the Boardwalk, Ocean City police officers donned black face masks over the weekend. One side has an image of an American flag, while the other has the city seal and the words “Ocean City Police.”
