A day at the public health beach

REVERE, Mass. — No sunbathing, no volleyball, no teens clustered on the sidewalk. Revere Beach is not normally the place to go to avoid crowds on the first warm day in Massachusetts. But wide swaths of its sand remained empty Sunday, even as the temperature soared close to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

"As you can see there are still people on the beach, but they are practicing social distancing as much as they can and a majority are wearing masks," said Jason Smith, a volunteer with the City of Revere, on hand to help pass out free masks and gloves to anyone who needed them.

Gov. Charlie Baker ordered the wearing of some kind of face mask last week, but it was a month ago that he set the stage for the relative quiet seen Sunday at Revere Beach. In early April, Baker prohibited sedentary beach activities, such as sunbathing -- as well as athletic activities that might put people in close contact with one another.

The state also prohibited parking along Revere Beach Boulevard, which one city official told Boston 25 News significantly cut down on large groups congregating.

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Resident Gerry Iovanna noticed a difference Sunday compared with previous weekends.

"The last couple of weeks, when it was really warm out, I was afraid to come out because I noticed a lot of people weren't social distancing and they were not wearing masks," she said.

Iovanna said she was especially surprised on past weekends to see families and older people not wearing masks, and it bothered her so much that she contacted local elected officials. She was glad to see the city distributing free masks and gloves.

"Life as we know it is going to change and has changed," Iovanna said. "Maybe, someday, the way we used to know it will happen. But right now we need to adjust ourselves to what it is."

Two residents who live near the beach say they've been using masks for weeks now, but think overall compliance remains at about 50%.

"I'm over 60, so I worry," said one.

"We're just curious how it's going to be enforced," her friend added. "Either shaming people into it or trying to force it? I don't know. It's not that hard to do, it really isn't."

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Just then, a man walked by without a mask.

"Maybe you should interview him," she suggested.

Revere Beach is America's oldest public beach and was in operation during America's last great pandemic in 1918.

In fact, in May of 1918, after spending a day at Revere Beach, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Babe Ruth fell ill with Spanish Influenza during the first wave of that pandemic. He recovered quickly, only to get re-infected during the second wave that fall.

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