in

Despite COVID-19, Florida bars were packed with maskless partiers this weekend

Covid-19 bars packed, without masks, during pandemic

Perhaps we deserve this pandemic after all.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that bars in Florida were packed over the weekend, Covid-19 pandemic be damned.

Broward political leaders are closely watching the pandemic worsening in their county and state. In Florida, new cases of the virus for the week are up 49% compared to a week ago, with 8,410 new cases reported Saturday.

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has declared that local officials can require face masks, but can’t enforce them. However, Holness said the county can enforce that businesses follow restrictions on capacity.

The message that the virus is serious is not getting through to residents, Holness said: “Simple common-sense things will save a lot of people’s lives.”

Emi Guerra, co-founder of Breakwater Hospitality Group, which also owns The Wharf Miami, told the Sun Sentinel there had been remodeling to promote social distancing. He also said capacity would be limited and masks would be worn by guests when they were not drinking or eating.

“The venue is large and certain areas were empty, but people chose to congregate,” Guerra said Saturday. “We did ask people to put their masks on countless times. After a certain point, there is only so much we were able to do.”

I mean. At this point, what can you do? You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. And apparently, some people prefer to drink in large crowds instead of being socially responsible.

The Wharf was hardly alone on Saturday night in its density of young bar-goers, many shunning facemasks. Twenty-somethings packed into nearby bars and restaurants such as Bodega and Rooftop, spilling onto the streets with no distance between them.

“It’s hard to drink with a mask on,” one twenty-something told a reporter. “There’s no such thing as COVID in South Florida,” said another. Neither had brought a mask with them on their night out.

While it’s true most of these people probably won’t get sick, and those that do will probably be okay, some will get sick, and some will not be okay. What’s more, some of those who got infected over this weekend won’t know about it for another week or so, and they’ll bring it to their parent’s or grandparent’s homes and get other people sick during their Thanksgiving dinners.

New cases are surging. Last week, the US had over 200,000 new cases in one day for the first time. Deaths are starting to tick up. We had over 2000 deaths in one day for the first time since the initial wave in the spring. It’s not inconceivable that we’ll see a quarter million new cases a day this next week, and if the trend continues, maybe even half a million in a single day. It’s also not inconceivable that we’ll see 5000 deaths a day in mid to late December at this point – and even more if things continue this trajectory. The only way to prevent that from happening is to make changes now. The changes don’t even have to be major. Stay at home instead of going out. Wear a mask when you do have to go out and be around other people. And for fuck’s sake, stay at home this Thanksgiving instead of visiting your relatives.

But that’s clearly too much to ask for some people.

So, y’know, I guess be sure to enjoy your time spent with your elderly relatives this holiday season, because it very well might be the last time you spend the holidays with them.

Comments

Loading…

Loading…

Comment using Facebook

Comment using Facebook

How soon will we have to ration hospital care for Covid-19 patients?

Common (and not-so-common) Failed Covid-19 Conspiracy Hypotheses