Coronavirus: Californians flock to Joshua Tree despite order to stay at home while sunbathers fill closed Hawaii beaches

Frustrated officials sound alarm to stay indoors as spring weather lures Americans outdoors

Massive crowds continued to fill parks and beaches across the US despite statewide stay-at-home orders and repeated warnings from officials to prevent the spread of coronavirus by avoiding group contact

Joshua Tree National Park in California closed the sprawling landmark to everything but foot and bicycle traffic beginning 17 March, but scores of cars have been parked along roads leading to the entrance over the weekend.

California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the state's 40m people to shelter in place on Thursday.

Hawaii residents slipped past yellow police tape with surfboards and inner-tubes in hand to visit the state's beaches, which were packed with visitors over the weekend.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwall bluntly told Hawaii residents that the city is "pretty much hunkering down" and warning against large gatherings, Governor David Ige is under pressure to enforce stricter statewide quarantine efforts to slow the Covid-19 outbreak.

Frustrated officials have sounded the alarm to stay indoors as the number of confirmed cases of the virus climbs past 30,000 in the US and spring weather is luring crowds outdoors.

On Sunday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo demanded New York City officials come up with a plan to disperse crowds from public areas, saying that "the density level in the city is wholly inappropriate".

"I don't know what they're not understanding", he said during a briefing on Sunday. "This is not life as usual. .... It's insensitive, it's arrogant, it's self-destructive, it's disrespectful to other people, and it has to stop, and it has to stop now. This is not a joke and I am not kidding."

Governor Cuomo said officials must "come up with a plan" to enforce self-quarantine efforts within 24 hours of his warning.

On Monday, Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis finally announced the closure of its parks and beaches after spring breakers already swarmed beaches and nearby bars over the last week.

Despite previous warnings to avoid beaches, the state's attempt to limit crowds has "not resulted in the reductions needed to best protect public health and safety as Florida continues to mitigate the spread of Covid-19", the state's parks department announced.

Late last week, Miami-Dade County, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Naples and other beach towns announced beach closures, though thousands of spring breakers had already flocked to those destinations.

On the Gulf Coast, a popular destination for college students on spring break, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey ordered all beaches closed last week as the state's coastal destination Gulf Shores announced beach closures in the city.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves has refused to close down beaches but has urged people to stay at home and practice "social distancing".