CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. — Labor Day Weekend is here and health officials are hoping to avoid the surge in COVID-19 cases that we saw following Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.
Still, locals want to enjoy the warm weather.
Saturday was a busy day out at the Pinellas County beaches. With temperatures as high as they’ve been, thousands of beachgoers headed out to enjoy their unofficial last weekend of summer.
“I feel completely safe out on the beaches, outside,” said Connie Herrig, who spent Saturday at Clearwater Beach.
Beachgoers were happy to be outside, and the local business owners were happy to have them.
DeeDee Lewis opened her shaved ice stand back in March, but the pandemic forced her to shut down after just four days.
“I thought we’d have to take it off the beach and do the best we could with it, but we got back open, and the beach is open... it’s all good,” said DeeDee Lewis.
Now the business is picking up as more and more people head outside, but doctors are warning, don’t let your guard down.
“As we go on the other side of Labor Day and into the fall, we want to go into that with a running start in the right direction, we don’t want to go into that with another surge that we have to turn around again,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infection disease expert.
DeeDee Lewis echoes that, she wants to make sure her shaved ice stands stay open.
“It’s good as long as they follow the rules and they stay safe, it’s great,” said Lewis.
