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Glynn County, Ga., Reopens Public Piers

Steve Helber
/
Associated Press file photo
The St. Simons Island Pier is reopening, although fishing will be prohibited. Pictured in the background is the Golden Ray car carrier ship that overturned in 2019. Salvage operations to remove it continue.

Glynn County, Ga., has decided to slightly relax its COVID-19 restrictions by reopening its county-maintained piers.

The county announced Friday the piers will reopen to the public beginning at 5 p.m. The piers reopening are:

  • St. Simons Island pier
  • Blythe Island Regional Park piers
  • Gascoigne fishing piers

Although the piers are being reopened to the general public, anglers will need to leave their fishing poles at home. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources said fishing is still prohibited.

Related: Local, State, And National Coronavirus Coverage

Glynn County, about 75 miles north of Jacksonville, includes the city of Brunswick and the five islands known as the Georgia's Golden Isles, including St. Simon's and Jekyll.

The county is stressing anyone who decides to use the piers needs to maintain a 6-foot distance to comply with COVID-19 safety precautions. The piers will be monitored by the Glynn County Police and state law enforcement.

At the time of this story’s publication, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported there were 11,483 COVID-19 cases in the state, with 416 deaths attributed to the virus. Georgia has more than 10 million residents.

Glynn County has had 32 confirmed cases, with no reported deaths.

Other local precautions to comply with Ga. Gov. Brian Kemp's shelter-in-place order remain in effect. Additional information about the restrictions is available on the Glynn County website.

Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.

Bill joined WJCT News in September of 2017 from The Florida Times-Union, where he served in a variety of multimedia journalism positions.