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Virginia Beach tourists, city officials react to scathing column about mask wearing at the Oceanfront

  • Rodney Petersen says he does not mind wearing mask when...

    The' N. Pham/The Virginian-Pilot

    Rodney Petersen says he does not mind wearing mask when in store or on the boardwalk while he and his wife, Elizabeth Kaestner, and daughter, Sydney, 6, vacationing in Virginia Beach, Va., on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020.

  • Patricia Gill and her granddaughter Dynasty Hooker-Gill enter the beach...

    The' N. Pham/The Virginian-Pilot

    Patricia Gill and her granddaughter Dynasty Hooker-Gill enter the beach on on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020 in Virginia Beach, VA. She and her family are from Raleigh, N.C.

  • Elizabeth Kaestner, right, stresses the important of social distancing while...

    The' N. Pham/The Virginian-Pilot

    Elizabeth Kaestner, right, stresses the important of social distancing while out about with husband, Rodney Petersen, right, daughter, Sydney, 6, left, while vacationing in Virginia Beach, Va., on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020.

  • Patricia Gill adjusts her mask as her family vacationing from...

    The' N. Pham/The Virginian-Pilot

    Patricia Gill adjusts her mask as her family vacationing from Raleigh, N.C., on Friday, Aus. 7, 2020. On the right is her grandson Jamarrion Gill, 6, and granddaughter Dynasty Hooker-Gill, center.

  • Liam Johnston, 2, shows his mother, Anastasia Anishchenkova, a rock...

    The' N. Pham/The Virginian-Pilot

    Liam Johnston, 2, shows his mother, Anastasia Anishchenkova, a rock that he found on the boardwalk in Virginia Beach, Va., on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. In the back are Timothy Johnston and baby Luca, 1. The family is vacationing from Bedford, Va.

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Staff mug of Stacy Parker. As seen Thursday, March 2, 2023.
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On a slightly overcast August morning during a pandemic, the Virginia Beach Boardwalk is only mildly crowded.

Couples from out of town stroll leisurely down one side of the 3-mile path. Families with young children dart across it on their way to the beach. Runners wipe sweat from their foreheads while mentally tallying the blocks behind them.

Very few people are wearing masks.

A similar scene was the subject of a recent travel column on Forbes.com. And it wasn’t flattering.

“A trip to Virginia Beach showed why we aren’t beating this virus,” read the headline of the column, in which the author rapped the knuckles of the resort area for people’s poor COVID-19 behavior — primarily the lack of mask-wearing.

Ben Baldanza, a former CEO of Spirit Airlines who writes for Forbes, traveled with his family from Northern Virginia to Virginia Beach. It was not for work, but to “see the town, experience the wonders of the ocean again, and just spend some time out of the house,” he wrote.

He walked away with a not-so-good impression of how people aren’t following rules and blamed them for prolonging the coronavirus pandemic.

While the column was about more than just Virginia Beach — it also touched on Baldanza’s drive home from Hampton Roads — the piece was still an embarrassing review for a family beach destination that is actively promoting itself to travelers.

“It’s one person’s opinion and perception,” said Mayor Bobby Dyer, who plans to write a rebuttal letter to Forbes. “We want people to come to our city and feel they’re safe.”

Baldanza’s words also were a blow to businesses that are trying to salvage the dwindling days of summer.

“He was really hard on us,” said City Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson, who lives in a condominium overlooking the Boardwalk. “He was more critical than he should have been.”

Councilman Guy Tower, who represents the resort area, was quick to defend his stomping ground — brushing off the columnist’s criticism. There is no more of a problem in Virginia Beach than any other tourism destination, Tower said.

“We’re at the height of the season,” he said. “People are behaving as well as anywhere else.”

Virginia Beach is marketing itself as a clean and safe destination. The city hired a company to provide dozens of “beach ambassadors” who greet tourists on the Boardwalk and a “clean team,” to wipe down high touch areas. Restaurants and stores have posted signs letting customers know they have to wear a mask inside. And masks will be available at the Visitors Information Center soon.

But in Virginia, they are recommended — but not required — outside in public spaces. According to the Centers for Disease Control, indoor spaces are more risky than outdoor spaces, where it might be harder to keep people apart and there’s less ventilation.

“The closer you are to someone, the more likely you are to breathe the air they exhale,” said Lisa Lee, an infectious disease epidemiologist for Virginia Tech.

Being outside, in open space, dilutes the virus particles, she said.

“The idea of whether a mask is necessary outside depends on how close you are to the people,” Lee said. “We know that wearing a mask helps the particles not get so far.”

Still, Baldanza was expressing a “legitimate concern” in his column, said Anna Jeng, professor of community and environmental health at Old Dominion University.

“When you’re on vacation, you let your guard down, but we’re dealing with a serious virus. People have to be mindful,” she said.

Upon arrival from the Washington metro area, Baldanza said he was surprised to see people not wearing masks while milling around an Oceanfront parking lot and on the Boardwalk. He also was appalled to see customers walk into souvenir shops without face coverings.

To top it off, the maskless 20-something guests in the lobby of the Cavalier Hotel really irked him.

Not all guests of the resort city feel the same way.

Elizabeth Kaestner, of the Shenandoah Valley area, wasn’t worried about face coverings on the beach Friday. She vacationed in Virginia Beach this week with her family and they didn’t wear masks on the Boardwalk or while her daughter played in the sand.

In her opinion, it was an either/or situation: social distance or masks.

“As long as you have 6 feet of distance, you’re okay,” said Kaestner, a lab scientist.

Others, however, were sticklers for face coverings.

Patricia Gill, a grandmother from Raleigh, North Carolina, trekked across the Boardwalk and onto the beach with her extended family Friday morning. They were celebrating a birthday, and nearly all of her relatives wore masks, including her 6-year-old grandchildren.

“It’s very important,” Gill said. “They go out; they put on their mask.”

When asked how she feels when other people aren’t wearing one, Gill said she has gotten into the habit of signaling them to put one on.

“I give them a hint,” she said by tugging at the top of hers.

A beachgoer passing by while Gill demonstrated this signal quickly pulled her shirt up over her nose.

In the column, Baldanza claimed that those who disregard mask-wearing prolong the pandemic.

“Stop being selfish and put on your mask and wash your hands so we can all get back to life, work and school!,” he pleaded.

Lee, the epidemiologist, said it’s really about reducing the intensity of community spread because the virus isn’t going away.

“If we all take precautions, we will likely have a more manageable epidemic,” she said.

Timothy Johnston and his wife, Anastasia Anishchenkova, of Bedford, were happy to see the hotel staff wearing masks when they arrived in Virginia Beach this week.

“That was considerate, and I appreciate that,” Anishchenkova said.

But they didn’t don masks when they went for a stroll on the Boardwalk with their two toddler sons Friday morning.

“It’s well-spaced out; people seem not to be clustering” Anishchenkova said. “I can’t complain.”

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com