A tourist views the closed Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, March 21, 2020. Australia's iconic Bondi Beach was closed after hundreds of beachgoers crowded on the sand on Friday ignoring the ongoing social distancing guidelines. Police Minister of the State of New South Wales David Elliott ordered the beach in Sydney to be shut down on Saturday afternoon. There have been 874 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia as of 6:30 a.m. local time Saturday, among which there are 382 in the State of New South Wales. Seven people have died from the disease. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
SYDNEY, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Australia's iconic Bondi Beach was closed after hundreds of beachgoers crowded on the sand on Friday ignoring the ongoing social distancing guidelines.
Police Minister of the State of New South Wales David Elliott ordered the beach in Sydney to be shut down on Saturday afternoon. The closure is temporary and the measure will extend to other beaches if social-distancing rules, which forbid non-essential outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people, are being ignored, according to the ABC report.
Images showing hundreds of people flocking at the Bondi Beach amid a temperature over 30 degree centigrade on Friday circulated on social media, which caused highly concern and harsh criticism.
Paula Masselos, mayor of Waverley where Bondi Beach is located, also issued a public message urging people to stay away from Bondi amid the pandemic and away from beaches.
"We all have a role to play in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and I am frustrated that people continue to ignore health advice about social distancing as observed yesterday (Friday) at Bondi Beach," Masselos said.
"No one is immune to COVID-19 and behaving irresponsibly puts the entire community at risk," she said.
There have been 874 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia as of 6:30 a.m. local time Saturday, among which there are 382 in the State of New South Wales. Seven people have died from the disease.
