SAN MATEO COUNTY – Dozens of people received written warnings for shelter-in-place violations on the Peninsula in the past week.
Between Friday and Sunday, Pacifica police officers contacted 1,424 people and ordered 295 to leave the area because they had traveled more than 10 miles for recreation, a violation of the orders San Mateo County Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow issued in response to the coronavirus pandemic, police said in a news release Monday.
Police said eight people were given written warnings.
“The emphasis was on education about physical distancing and admonishing those who were determined to have traveled in excess of 10 miles for recreation,” police said.
The city’s beaches and open space areas have proven to be popular destinations since the orders were issued. Last weekend, officers contacted 853 people and ordered 535 of them to leave the area. At the time, the orders barred people from traveling more than five miles for recreation. The distance was increased to 10 miles on April 29.
San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies handed out a total of 89 written warnings, but no punitive citations, between April 27 and May 3, the sheriff’s office said in a news release Monday. Thirty-four were issued in unincorporated areas west of Highway 35 and south of Half Moon Bay, 32 in Woodside and Portola Valley, 11 in Half Moon Bay, five in unincorporated coastal areas north of Half Moon Bay, four in Millbrae, two in San Carlos and one in unincorporated areas south of Highway 92.
On Monday, the county added 48 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 for a total of 1,281, according to data compiled by this news organization. The county’s death toll remains at 51.
