As viral videos show spring breakers still partying on Florida beaches, Sen. Rick Scott delivered a stern message Thursday morning:
“Stop doing it, now!”
Despite pleas from health and government officials asking people to practice social distancing to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, some beaches are still seeing traffic.
Many South Florida cities, including Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale, have shut down their coasts, but plenty of other beaches remain open for the public.
President Trump has advised Americans to avoid public gatherings of more than 10 people as an attempt to combat the spread of COVID-19. While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered bars and nightclubs to be shuttered for 30 days, he hasn’t closed the beaches across Florida. During a press conference, DeSantis said the state would apply the “CDC guidance of no groups on a beach more than 10 and you have to have distance apart if you’re going to be out there.”
During an interview with CNN on Thursday, former Florida governor and current senator Rick Scott pleaded with people to avoid these large public gatherings.
“I think they ought to do everything they can to stop people from being on the beach,” Scott said.
“What are you thinking about being by around the beach by all these people that might have coronavirus and then you’re going to go home and potentially impact the people you love the most. What are you thinking? Stop doing it, now!”
In Clearwater, photos have shown hundreds of people partying on the beach throughout the week. While city council officials voted to close the beaches there for two weeks, the order won’t go into effect until Monday.
Beaches themselves aren’t believed to carry any added risk of spreading coronavirus — a medical expert told the Sun Sentinel that there’s no reason to fear swimming — but large crowds of people in close proximity increase chances of transmission, especially when many of these students and tourists will soon travel back to different areas of the country.
“You can be a hero to the person next to you by social distancing,” Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said Thursday. “There will be another spring break when this is over. The beach will be there.”
On Wednesday, a spring breaker visiting South Florida succinctly summed up what’s probably going through the minds of these beach-goers.
“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I’m not gonna let it stop me from partying,” Brady Sluder told Reuters in a video that quickly went viral. “We’re just out here having a good time. Whatever happens, happens.”
