As the coronavirus continues to spread exponentially domestically and abroad, young Americans, many of them students, have continued to celebrate Spring Break with little concern for their own health or the health risks to others.
As CBS News reports, thousands of revelers in Florida ignored the dire directives to practice social distancing as they flooded beaches to celebrate Spring Break and St. Patrick’s Day. U.S. citizens living in populous areas have been advised to stay home as much as possible, avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people, and maintain six feet of separation from people outside of their own household, in order to combat the rapid spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.
CBS News reporters asked the young beach-goers in Miami about any concerns they might have related to the global pandemic.
“It’s really messing up with my spring break,” said one young woman.
“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not gonna let it stop me from partying”: Spring breakers are still flocking to Miami, despite coronavirus warnings. https://t.co/KoYKI8zNDH pic.twitter.com/rfPfea1LrC
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 18, 2020
On Twitter, a user in Fort Lauderdale posted a video of what appeared to be hundreds of people crowded together on a beachfront.
Students are sent home and they take it to the beaches & bars in Fort Lauderdale Florida right now. Are they wise to have fun like this? pic.twitter.com/SL0i0UCPfR
— Alex Jungle (@AlexJungle2) March 15, 2020
Across the country, many colleges have suspended in-person classes and told students to move out of the dorms. In New York City, officials at New York University revealed this week that students had been asked to leave the dorms in order to convert the dorm rooms into makeshift hospital rooms, as hospitals in the city are expected to be overwhelmed by coronavirus patients.
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[Feature image: AP Photo/Julio Cortez]