FALMOUTH – As one Falmouth resident walked her dog down the street, she began to notice something about her neighborhood that felt very uncommon for the month of March: a steady influx of out-of-state plates.
“I think they’re coming to Cape Cod for their safety, for the health of their family. I think they figure there’s less numbers of people here,” said the resident, who wished to remain anonymous.
That gave them grave concern for not only their own family’s protection but for the lack of preparation the tourist destination had for the growing number of people flocking to their summer homes.
“The thing is, the stores aren’t ready. A significant number of summer residents on our street are down – we don’t have enough supplies for that. People don’t realize, we don’t keep that supply on hand for summer residents that are normally only here part of the year. Grocery stores plan for that number of influx. Same with hospitals.”
A local Cape Cod business owner echoed the resident’s concerns of the influx of residents not only impacting their supply, but of spreading the Coronavirus disease in what in the winter and early spring months is generally a less populated area.
“There has been a huge increase in out-of-state plates. Especially New York, New Jersey and Florida, but people have come down to their “summer homes” even from Boston,” she explains.
“Though we love the tourism in the summer months and welcome it, we don’t appreciate these people coming from hot spots and bringing this virus down here. They are not supposed to be traveling. Especially when where they are coming from is on a shelter in place order. We have a huge elderly community. Our hospitals and grocery stores cannot handle our summer numbers right now. Our hospitals are not equipped to handle our entire year-round community.”
While nearby tourist destinations like Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are asking summer residents to stay home as they try to keep their case numbers down, the Cape Cod resident said she feels her home is left out of that as Martha’s Vineyard residents issued a similar concern, echoed by officials in Chilmark, Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, West Tisbury & Tisbury which as of 6pm on Tuesday unanimously approved a stay-at-home order that is being enforced with a one thousand dollar fine for violators.
Samantha Joyce, whose family lives on Martha’s Vineyard, said residents on the island began growing concerned weeks ago.
“The people coming over say they have a right to be there because they pay taxes on their property, but the fact is that they are endangering the people who live their because our hospital does not have the same capacities theirs would.”
Yet on Cape Cod, no such fines or strict policies to protect year-round residents have been enforced. “ I think the numbers are still relatively low right now, but there are a lot of people who don’t even know they’re sick,” said the resident.
“It’s especially disturbing when you see New York residents, who were told to shelter in place, coming here instead. If they happen to not have symptoms, but they come, that’s how it starts.” The state of New York, as of Wednesday, had over 38,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Various towns are now taking action. The earliest statement made on the influx of visitors came from the Town of Chatham on Wednesday afternoon by the Chatham Board of Health, urging travelers from the Tri-state area to self-isolate.
“As recommended by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, the Chatham Board of
Health is urging residents, who returned to their Chatham homes from New York City or the greater New York metropolitan area (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut), to self-isolate themselves for a period of 14 days in their homes,” reads the statement that encourages social distancing of six feet or more for all residents.
In addition, the Town of Barnstable issued their own release also encouraging a voluntary, 14-day quarantine of all travelers from the New York City metropolitan area. “Self-isolation for 14 days will help curb the spread of the disease in Barnstable County and lessen the stress on our critical infrastructure, including First Responders, hospitals, and healthcare providers,” reads the statement issued Thursday
afternoon.
The state of New York currently has 37,258 COVID-19 cases, with Massachusetts at 2,417 (67 of those are in Barnstable County specifically). “I think the numbers are still relatively low right now, but there are a lot of people who don’t even know they’re sick,” said one resident.
“It’s especially disturbing when you see New York residents, who were told to shelter in place, coming here instead. If they happen to not have symptoms, but they come, that’s how it starts.”
It’s not just the Cape & Islands experiencing the strain of a tourism surge. In places like Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, Skip Winter said, it’s a growing concern for his community as well – and that times like these are not ones for vacation.
“I think it comes down to being unselfish and using common sense,” Winter says. “It’s a free country but I just wish people would be respectful and sensible so it doesn’t spread. We all have to be mindful that just because some aren’t worried about contracting the virus they still need to know that they could unknowingly spread it. I really feel for the first responders, nurses and hospitals who are on the front lines. We need to all be unselfish and smarter so we can flatten the curve. Otherwise this is going to last a lot longer than any of us wants.”
By EMMALYN REID, Cape Wide News
