As some Florida beaches reopen, Ocean City is keeping the doors closed.

Last weekend, Floridians were allowed to return to the beaches in the Jacksonville area. Residents were supposed to exercise social distancing, but soon after opening, the beaches resembled a normal weekend, filled with people.

The mayor of Ocean City officially closed the city to tourists on March 19, 2020, in an effort to both protect tourists and locals from the COVID-19 virus. In mid-April, the city’s department of tourism began airing television commercials reiterating the closure.

The 30-second television ad features an aerial tour of the peninsula and assures visitors that all the town’s tourist attractions will be ready for them when they return. It ends with the narrator saying, “Until then, stay healthy.” The resort city’s hotels, condos, and boardwalk remain closed until April 30. The rest of the city is operating on an essential basis, similar to operations during the off-season.

Ocean City has canceled or rescheduled many of its popular events, like Cruisin’ Ocean City, Springfest, and the OC Car and Truck Show. The first event to have a published return date is Cruisin’ Ocean City, May 20 to May 23. The county has also closed the area golf courses and the convention center.

Governor Larry Hogan is scheduled to present a plan to reopen Maryland later this week. Last week Hogan detailed improvements that needed to be made on the health care side before he could even think about reopening. At the top of the list was ramped-up testing, followed by increased hospital capacity, improved contact tracing, and the acquisition of important personal protective equipment.

Ocean City typically transitions into a soft opening of the city after Easter. Officials have not given a timeline to open for the 2020 season, and no mention has been made about the type of restrictions that would have to be put in place if coronavirus cases are still rising in the state. 

Each year, 4.5-mile peninsula is visited by eight million people—a number that would be hard for the tourist destination to handle and still implement the current social distancing measures in place.