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Officials, residents look to balance safety and celebration for Memorial Day weekend

Memorial Day weekend marks the first time Americans must weigh holiday celebrations and possible health risk.

News 12 Staff

May 24, 2020, 7:41 PM

Updated 1,671 days ago

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After over two months of stay-at-home orders, residents across the country are eager to get outside for Memorial Day weekend.
Memorial Day weekend marks the first time Americans must weigh holiday celebrations and possible health risk. For tourist towns that rely on out-of-town traffic, keeping people safe while boosting lagging economies is especially tough.
"Our local economy has tanked. We are a tourism town. People have been coming here for over 100 years. Tourism has ended for the time being," says Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown.
Mayor Shirley Sessions, of Tybee Island, Georgia, says her community is "fortunate that our governor was gracious enough to send the Department of Resources down to help with the social distancing."
In Arkansas, officials say the state is facing a second peak of COVID-19. Further, the governor says a high school pool party spread the virus.
"They're young, they're swimming, they're just having activity and positive cases resulted from that. And so it's just an encouragement for us to be disciplined in our activities," says Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
It could take days or even weeks to determine if Memorial Day weekend generated more viral spikes nationwide.
PHOTOS: Your 2020 Memorial Day Photos
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