Lifeguards expand supervised beach areas to allow for physical distancing

The supervised areas of some provincial park beaches on P.E.I. have been expanded this year to allow for physical distancing.

Matthew Smith, P.E.I.'s provincial lifeguard co-ordinator, said they did calculations to figure out how many people could safely be in a beach area at one time.

"We used some Google overlay technology and calculated a reasonable square footage that we would expect our beachgoers to be spreading out on," he said.

"And then reviewed the previous season statistics of beach population to figure out what capacity our parks are capable of having and still meeting physical distancing requirements."

Supervised beach areas have been enlarged at CheltonBeach Provincial Park, Panmure Island, Jacques Cartier Provincial Park, and Cedar Dunes.

Smith said at beaches where the supervised areas could not be enlarged safely, lifeguards will be doing more headcounts.

Lifeguards, in addition to their main duties, will be asking people to spread out if they get too close to other beachgoers.

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