St. Johns County beaches open, but vehicular access is prohibited

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Beaches in St. Johns County will stay open, but vehicular access is prohibited.

Here is what we know:

• The St. Augustine Beach City Commission held an emergency meeting Friday to talk about the coronavirus.
• During the meeting, they announced all beaches in St. Johns County will remain open to the public for now.
• The county said beaches are closed to vehicular access.
• The county said it’s trying to keep the beaches open, but needs people in the community to be socially responsible.
• All gates are locked along the 42-mile stretch of beaches in St. Johns County.
• Youth resource deputies, who would typically be in schools, have been reassigned and will help with crowd control on the beaches.
• The next step would be to close public parking at the beaches to help with crowd control.
• St. Augustine Beach police chief said they are seeing an alarming increase in suicide threat calls and attempts. He said they are averaging at least three or four a day. The police chief talked about the mental toll this is taking on people. The St. Augustine Beach Mayor said they are working on providing a crisis center hotline to help neighbors during these difficult times. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.
• St. Augustine Beach police chief said they asked the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office for help with resources, since they’re seeing a lot of people from Putnam County in their jurisdiction.
• Starting tomorrow morning, deputies from Putnam County Sheriff’s Office will be assigned to help their agency.

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