The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Warm weather an ‘obstacle’ in enforcing social distancing rules
The weekend’s warm weather drew crowds to Connecticut parks and beaches, causing some unease among state and local officials, tasked with enforcing calls for social distancing amid the coronavirus outbreak.
With temperatures soaring to around 80 degrees on Sunday, the result was — and has been on previous warm weekend days — the early closing of 16 parks statewide, as their parking lots filled to capacity.
With more warm weather expected, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has announced it expects further closures. Among those closed on Sunday were Sleeping Giant in Hamden, Sherwood Island in Westport, and Silver Sands in Milford.
Health officials, meanwhile, are concerned that the combination of nice weather and quarantine fatigue might precipitate a second wave of cases if social distancing isn’t heeded.
“I think we’re going to have a real obstacle on our hands as the weather gets nicer and people are just tired of being indoors,” said Dr. Zane Saul, chairman of infectious diseases at Bridgeport Hospital. “A lot of folks venturing outdoors were not being as responsible as they could have been.”
According to Will Healey, media relations manager for DEEP, the decision to close a park is made by the agency’s staff on site on a case-by-case basis. Based on the size of a park and the number of people visiting, park rangers will ban additional visitors if they determine social distancing cannot be safely practiced.
In addition, DEEP has its own police force, the Environmental Conservation
Police, which is comprised of roughly 50 officers, who patrol the parks and have the authority to write citations to people not properly following social distancing rules.
But, as of Monday, Healey said no tickets had been issued by ENCON officers, who instead favor an educational approach.
“We believe the best tool at the ready right now is to educate people,” Healey said.
Locally, municipal officials have also received recent reports of heavy usage at municipal parks and beaches.
Wilton First Selectman Lynne Vanderslice on Sunday scolded residents after she said some trespassed on closed town fields over the weekend and were not following social distancing guidelines in public places.
“By not following the rules, you are prolonging the economic and health crisis,” Vanderslice said in her daily coronavirus update. “You are putting the rest of us at risk. You are extending the time that the rest of us have to wear masks and not see our family members and friends.”
Stamford Mayor David Martin visited the city’s parks over the weekend and reported that a vast majority of residents were maintaining social distance.
According to Arthur Augustyn, communications assistant for Martin, Stamford’s parking enforcement officers have been redeployed since the beginning of the public health crisis to enforce social distancing at the city’s parks.
Augustyn also noted the city had put up bilingual signs warning against congregating and posted the police department’s nonemergency number to serve as a tip line to report residents using facilities — like playgrounds and sports fields — that have been closed.
And yet, Martin and the city have been adamant about allowing parks to stay open.
“Mayor Martin has said access to outdoor recreation is important for Stamford residents because our city has a lot of density with many people in apartments or condos,” Augustyn said. “These residents don't have the same access to leaving their home for some fresh air as other residents, or other communities.”