San Francisco

Labor Day Crowd at SF's Ocean Beach Appears to Follow Health Guidelines

NBC Universal, Inc.

The crowd at San Francisco's Ocean Beach Monday afternoon appeared to be following COVID-19 guidelines, a far cry from over the weekend when thousands packed the beach for a Burning Man celebration.

Dozens of families with children lined the sand and enjoyed the cooler ocean breeze while much of the Bay Area baked under sizzling temperatures.

"Yes, it's so hot," Liz from Berkeley said. "Thatโ€™s why we came out to the beach because itโ€™s insanely hot at home."

For the most part, beachgoers seemed to follow the coronavirus-related rules of staying within small groups, wearing masks and keeping social distance.

On Saturday, the beach was filled with people gathered for the Burning Man celebration, complete with bonfires. The annual art and music festival usually held in the Nevada desert was canceled this year because of the pandemic.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed called the gathering "reckless and selfish" and ordered the closure of beach parking lots.

The closure did make it inconvenient for beachgoers who were trying to do the right thing on Labor Day.

"Made it a little more difficult getting here this morning," Shane Gallagher of Concord said. "Hey, it is what it is."

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