ORANGE BEACH, Alabama – Coastal beaches popular among Louisianans were packed for the holiday weekend.

By Friday, hundreds – if not thousands – of people were already on the water in Orange Beach where boats were anchored on small islands in the coves along the Alabama coast.

Beaches and outdoor areas are open in Alabama. The beach community’s tourism center warned on its website, though: “As we are a small destination with limited healthcare resources, we strongly encourage you to adhere to your home state’s guidelines, especially regarding stay-at-home orders and not traveling to other destinations to quarantine.”

Baldwin County, Alabama, home to Orange Beach, is an area of concern for Alabama health officials after seeing double-digit increases of coronavirus cases in nine days recently. While the area is still among the least-infected counties in Alabama per capita, local TV station WALA reported, locals were worried with the expected Independence Day visitors.

“As far as case counts go, being high and Fourth of July, we are concerned with the fact that those numbers are high going into a busy – if not the busiest – time of year for Baldwin,” Zach Hood, Baldwin’s Emergency Management Agency director, told the TV station Wednesday. “And what we want to make sure is that individuals are aware of the higher risk category that public health has put us in for the time being.”

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