RV Coronavirus News Update, March 29, 2020

Please send your news about the coronavirus pandemic as it applies to RVers to editor@rvtravel or submit it here.

Thank you to all the RV Travel readers who have sent us information, much of which we have included here. We have been working so fast that we have not had time to thank you all. So thank you! (You know who you are.)

Read Friday’s extensive news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and how it’s affecting RVers.

HOUSEHOLD & HAND SANITIZERS. If you’re concerned about keeping germs away, there are plenty of products here to do the job.

Disneyland and Disney World will be closed until further notice. Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort will remain closed as well. Earlier this month, Disney had announced its theme parks and hotels would remain closed only through the end of March. Universal Orlando and Legoland also extended their closures.

The Fort Wilderness RV Resort at Disney World is also closed.

REV Group has suspended normal production activities at all four RV production facilities in Indiana and California. Its RV brands: American Coach, Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Fleetwood, Renegade RV and Lance. The company’s service centers will continue to perform essential support to meet dealers’ and end-customers’ technical, warranty and parts requests.

Elkhart County, Indiana, home to the RV industry, now has 11 cases of COVID-19. The first case in the state was March 6. The statewide total as of Saturday, March 28, was 1,232.

All developed recreation sites, including campgrounds, on Bureau of Management Lands (BLM) in California are now closed to all forms of public access.

Utah State Parks is closing all its state parks Monday until further notice. Exceptions: local county residents.

Can’t find something at your local store? Amazon may have it.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is temporarily closing campgrounds, lodging and rental facilities until May 1, 2020, to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming is closed to all park visitors until further notice. Also in Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park is closed.

Many golf courses are closed across the USA. Check your local course before heading out to play a round.

In an effort to better enforce the spirit of “Stay Home, Save Lives,” lodgings on the Southern Oregon coast are now largely off-limits to visitors, reserved instead for essential workers and vulnerable populations. The City of Brookings adopted a resolution on Thursday for motels, vacation rentals, bed & breakfasts and RV parks, closing them to anyone but those deemed essential.

The long-time roadside attraction Trees of Mystery along U.S. 101 in the northern California redwood country, is closed.

In an ongoing effort to discourage tourists from traveling to Galveston, Texas, during the coronavirus crisis, the city has ordered hotel guests and short-term guests in RV parks to leave the island. “It’s our intent to get tourists off the island,” explained the mayor.

Fort Collins, Colorado, is temporarily letting residents use RVs as an option for social distancing and self-quarantine during the coronavirus outbreak. People are allowed to use the RVs for working, living or sleeping purposes to promote social distancing or quarantine.

If you have an RV and are not currently using it, consider donating it to a medical doctor for use during the pandemic. A new group has formed, RVs 4 MDs, to facilitate such arrangements. Learn more at its site on Facebook.

Bend, Oregon, is discouraging tourists from coming. The city said it might ban all “non-essential travel” if too many people — residents or visitors — don’t comply, and the problem worsens.

ODD STUFF: If you’re in Nebraska you can now get alcoholic beverages to go with your takeout order. In Washington state, marijuana shops are considered an essential businesses.

San Juan County in southwest Colorado, has evicted all short-term RVers and other tourists who are there on pleasure trips. “We wanted to send a clear message that if you’re coming here to stay in a hotel to hike and bike and do other things that aren’t necessary, you aren’t welcome,” said Kirk Benge, director of public health.

RV parks have been ordered to close in Macon County, Georgia.

Amazon has removed more than half a million listings that it believes involve price gouging. It says it is monitoring sellers to make sure they are not price gouging or making false claims related to COVID-19.

Hiking trails at Los Angeles’ Griffith Park and other hiking trails throughout Los Angeles County as well as parking lots for beaches and state parks are now closed.

Tillamook County, on the Oregon Coast, has closed all county, state and federal parks within the county as well as all parking lots and access points to beaches. Shut down: boat launches, motels, hotels, short-term vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, and RV parks.

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Mississippi State Parks are open to self-contained units. Offices, bathrooms, etc., are closed.

Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism (ADPHT), announced Friday that the department is limiting the use of campgrounds to RVs with self-contained bathrooms.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo says he will sue Rhode Island if it does not roll back a policy of stopping all cars (and RVs) with New York license plates.

Del Norte County in Northern California has closed county parks to camping except for hosts or other campers expressly authorized by the county for stays of 30 days or longer. Hotels, motels, RV parks and private campgrounds are also barred from housing anyone for less than a 30-day period, though it does make some exceptions.

OUCH!
Julianna Guy shared this on our RV Coronavirus News group at Facebook. “Stayed in Martinsburg WV last night. I swear we didn’t see the ‘no overnight parking’ signs. Woke up to a windshield boot and a $435 fine. Beware! We were parked at the Grand Home Furnishing lot of the Foxcroft Towne Center at Martinsburg. It’s a big space with lots of big box stores.”

Stuck at home? Bored?
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HOW TO WASH YOUR HANDS
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this short video shows you the most effective way to wash your hands to get rid of germs.

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT MORE THAN EVER
RVtravel.com is working overtime to bring you the news about how the current pandemic is affecting the lives of RVers. In the meantime, most of our advertisers have stopped their campaigns due to necessity. We are able to continue because of our nearly 5,000 readers who have become voluntary subscribers. Please consider making a pledge today, no matter how modest. UPDATE FROM THE EDITOR: If you are being hit financially by the pandemic, please take care of yourself: don’t worry about us. But if you are doing okay, we could use your help.

New Facebook Group:  How the coronavirus is impacting RVers. Get updates throughout the day about park and campground closings, cancelled rallies and RV shows — and more. Join in the conversation with other RVers about what’s on all our minds right now.

If you are a member of an RV club or are affiliated with an RV-related event would you please let us know if its gatherings, meetings, etc., are cancelled or postponed because of the coronavirus? We’ll pass along the info to our readers. We appreciate any news related to RVing that’s relevant to the present crisis. Please submit it here. Thank you!