Want to help Ocean City? Don’t go there this weekend | COMMENTARY

Last week, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan made a wise judgment and extended the beach closure that was set to expire on April 30 to May 15. At the time, he explained he wanted to follow Gov. Larry Hogan’s “Roadmap to Recovery” plan for a return to full economic activity and recognized that the town should wait for a lifting of the stay-at-home order before it welcomes tourists. On Monday and with the support of the City Council, he reversed course moving to reopen beaches this Saturday and even going so far as to outright invite out-of-towners to visit for the day or perhaps the next, which is Mother’s Day, providing they keep proper social distances. Hotels are restricted to “essential” personnel only so, at least in theory, visitors won’t be staying. Not since last year’s OC Air Show, has the populace witnessed such public and, frankly, death-defying acrobatics.

This is a mistake. Not because Ocean City should not be looking to reopen gradually but because it’s simply premature. Just look at Maryland’s coronavirus numbers. While COVID-19-related deaths have gone down slightly, other measures such as hospitalizations have only recently plateaued. The state is surely inching toward the first phase of the governor’s three-phase plan, but it is not yet there. Worcester County may have only 80 diagnosed cases to date, but reopening beaches means the town will be potentially drawing from hundreds of miles away including all of Maryland, which has recorded nearly 1,300 deaths including 74 in the last 24 hours alone, as of this writing. Just last month, town officials were worried that out-of-state condo owners should not risk visiting their properties because the lower Eastern Shore’s limited health facilities could easily be swamped. Is that not still true?

More