After spring breakers openly flaunted social distancing rules regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, as many as five college students have tested positive for the virus after returning from their vacation.
“Five University of Tampa students are recovering after testing positive for COVID-19 during spring break,” reports FOX 6. “The university said the students were traveling together and with other UT students during spring break before testing positive. The school didn’t say where they went during their break or if they lived on or off-campus.”
On Twitter Saturday night, the university wished the students a speedy recovery. “We sincerely wish our students, and any others who may be affected, a full and rapid recovery,” it said.
The news comes shortly after a terrifying video went viral of spring breakers not taking the CDC guidelines on social distancing seriously, openly stating they did not care about contracting COVID-19.
“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me from partying,” one spring breaker said. “You know, we’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting, for Miami spring break for a while, about two months we’ve had this trip planned. And we’re just out here having a good time. Whatever happens, happens.”
Another spring breaker said: “It’s really messing up my spring break. What is there to do here other than go to bars or the beach? And they’re closing all of it. I think they’re blowing it out of proportion. I think it’s doing way too much.”
Another said: “What they’re doing is bad. We need a refund. This virus ain’t that serious. There are more serious things out there like hunger and poverty, and we need to address that.”
Another video that went viral showed spring breakers on a Florida beach performing what is colloquially known as a “butt luge,” wherein a man drinks alcohol poured off a woman’s butt. Here’s how Urban Dictionary defines it: “First, you get a woman to lie down on her stomach naked, then one of you places your mouth between her legs looking at her butt. The person then pours a shot down the top of her butt and drinks it at the end.”
"Nobody gives a fuck about #Coronavirus here"
Said by dumbass #SpringBreakers during the #CoronaCrisis. pic.twitter.com/p6UOJ47X9X
— The Muslim Republican (@RealSaleemJuma) March 20, 2020
In response to the lack of seriousness, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered all beaches in the state closed, allowing groups of up to just 10 people who must practice social distancing.
“The message I think for spring breakers is that the party’s over in Florida, you’re not going to be able to congregate on any beach in the state,” DeSantis told Fox News. “Many of the hot spots that people like to go to, whether it’s Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Clearwater Beach, are closed entirely for the time being.”
“The bars are closed so you’re not going to have a place to congregate there, so we would just tell those folks maybe come back next year when things are better, but that is not what we’re looking for here in the state of Florida,” DeSantis added. “Every single beach will have to abide by the CDC guidelines, no more than 10 people, you have to be socially distant, not every beach is going to remain open, but some will.”