WELLFLEET – Cape Cod National Seashore Superintendent Brian Carlstrom gave a summary of their 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic during the most recent Cape Cod Reopening Task Force meeting.
While he and his team were unsure of what to expect going into the summer, Carlstrom said that the seashore saw a higher number of visitors than usual this season.
As the summer continued, it got to the point where the team was actually able to develop revenue, contrary to their initial projections.
Much of that, he said, had to do with the fact that visitors and employees followed through with changes implemented in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“We want to thank our visitors and neighbors for their compliance with distancing and mask-wearing and all the practices that we’ve all become so familiar with,” Carlstrom said.
Strategies such as requiring at least 12 feet of distance between groups, limiting trams, and reducing the number of lifeguards on duty were put into practice throughout the summer along the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Carlstrom noted that many visitors and employees commented throughout the summer about how widely dispersed visitors were.
As the seasons change, Carlstrom asked visitors and workers to keep up the good work with preventing the impact of COVID-19 along the seashore and their bike paths.
“We’re going to keep those open so that that’s one way that as we continue to progress through this pandemic and begin recovering from it, people can get out and enjoy the great outdoors and have a respite from all the stress of COVID,” Carlstrom said.