I’ve been on southern Maine beaches most days since early June and have spoken with many out-of-state visitors. All but a handful have ignored Gov. Mills’ executive order regarding quarantining. It is likely that hundreds of people from states requiring quarantine are day-tripping to our southern beaches today. Somehow these rules need to be enforced. Hoping that people can be self-regulating and maintain personal responsibility doesn’t work.

Face masks help prevent the spread of the virus. New Jersey and Delaware, with their crowded boardwalks and beaches, recognized this weeks ago, and made it mandatory to wear masks in public. Similar restrictions are becoming more common in other parts of the country. It is impossible to maintain social distance on and around our busy beaches. Maine needs to expand mask rules.

The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. has doubled in just six weeks, and the death count is now over 150,000. There were over 1,000 coronavirus deaths in the U.S. four days in a row last week. Forty states saw increases in the number of cases per 100,000 residents last week.

Fortunately many in Maine feel untouched by all this. I am worried that with the lack of personal responsibility I have witnessed over the past weeks, it is only a matter of time before Maine finds itself in the same boat as the rest of the country.

Michael B. Regan

York

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