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Coronavirus Latest: Boston Mayor Says Too Many People Playing Sports In City Parks

BOSTON (CBS) – Mayor Marty Walsh said people in Boston are not doing enough to social distance during the coronavirus pandemic.

Walsh specifically pointed out the number of people doing things like playing sports in parks, and said that needs to stop.

"People are still gathering in groups and playing sports in our parks. This is not social distancing," Walsh said. "Quite honestly, you're putting other people at risk by doing this."

The city is planning to take new measures to prevent people from gathering at parks. They will include new signs and putting zip ties on basketball nets.

As a last effort, Walsh said the city could lock down parks.

"If we have young people playing basketball on basketball courts and we have young people playing street hockey on street hockey courts, and we have people down hanging on the beach, and we have people sitting in large groups and having conversations, and you have a wine party at your house, all you're doing is going to put a bigger strain on our hospitals because more people are going to test positive for the coronavirus," said Walsh.

Walsh said he understands people are frustrated they have to alter how they live their lives. But he added that it is a necessity to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"I'm hoping no other generation of people experience what we're experiencing right now," said Walsh.

Law enforcement in Rye, New Hampshire issued a similar message after noticing people were not social distancing and the "Beach Closed" signs were being ignored.

It seemed more like "the typical of a summer day in Rye with all the motor vehicle traffic, pedestrian, as well as people out on the beaches, and it was just very crowded," said Police Chief Kevin Walsh.

"The virus doesn't move, people move it, and if people stop moving, the virus will stop and the virus will die," he continued.

The same goes for warning goes for out-of-state visitors: "When you're driving up from Massachusetts, you're going to stop at the gas station, convenience stores, restaurant drive-throughs, and you're going to start to spread the coronavirus if you have it, or you could end up picking it up and bringing it back to Massachusetts," Kevin Walsh said.

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