Arkansas boy drowns while swimming at Texas beach

GALVESTON, Texas – A 10-year-old Arkansas boy drowned while swimming with his family in Galveston County, authorities said.

Micah Batson of Little Rock disappeared shortly before noon Saturday while swimming with his family in waters off Crystal Beach, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said.

The boy's father told authorities that he and his son were in waist-high water when a wave crashed over them and separated them, the Galveston County Daily News reported.

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First responders found the boy’s body several hours later, authorities said. The beach area on the Bolivar Peninsula does not have lifeguards.

Deputies reported busy beaches similar to a holiday weekend, Trochesset said. Stay-at-home orders issued because of the coronavirus pandemic were lifted Friday.

COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March. The first case confirmed in the U.S. was in mid-January and the first case confirmed in San Antonio was in mid-February.

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