OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — Mayor Libby Schaaf is asking the people of Oakland to give Lake Merritt a break after the warm weather drew crowds over the weekend.
“This weekend we saw too many crowds at Lake Merritt,” the mayor said on KRON4. “I keep on asking people to please give the lake a break. We have to continue to practice social distancing.”
Mayor Schaaf even started a hashtag on Twitter, #GiveTheLakeABreak, to try to discourage crowds from gathering at the lake.
“If we see flagrant violations and repeat violations we will have to resort to enforcement,” she said. “But right now I dont think giving someone a ticket when they are unemployed is very productive.”
Instead of tickets, officers are handing out masks.
“We are arming our police offering with masks so we can actually help people cover up,” Mayor Schaaf said.
The mayor also said they will rolling out additional streets to be part of their ‘Oakland Slow Streets‘ program that aims at giving people more room for to physically distance while outside exercising.
Find the added streets and other updates here.
The majority of the Bay Area, including Oakland, will remain under a stay-at-home order until June.
But with the extension, the counties are expected to begin allowing some low-risk activities.
Mayor Schaaf said it’s up to the health officers to make those decisions – not the politicians.
“And that’s the way it should be. This is about science and not about what we all wish were the case,” the mayor said.
She said she hopes some of the low-risk activities include construction.
“I’m hoping construction will be one of them because a lot of people are out of work,” she said.
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