The coronavirus global pandemic is serious enough to force Australia to close its borders for the next 6 months, but the country's beaches are still open for biz ... and apparently not big on social distancing.

World-famous Bondi Beach -- where, it's highly relevant, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were hanging days before testing positive for COVID-19 -- still has hundreds of people enjoying the surf, sun and sand.

While CDC guidelines call for gatherings of 10 or less in the U.S., Australia has banned outdoor gatherings of 500 people.

Australian Prime Minister just announced the 6-month ban on all visitors, so it would seem the Aussies are taking the outbreak very seriously. At last count, they have 756 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 7 deaths.

Of course, the sand here in Florida has been alarmingly packed all week as spring break festivities ignored the health crisis -- and the state's governor refused to close the beaches.

However, Miami-Dade County made the call Thursday to shut down its beaches. That didn't stop at least one jackass from attempting to catch some rays on Miami Beach.

Not for long though ... cops quickly slapped the cuffs on him (bad tan lines, bro) for trespassing.