Springbreak in Florida: Crowds flock to South Florida, while some residents worry about another Covid-19 boom

Springbreak in Florida: Crowds flock to South Florida, while some residents worry about another Covid-19 boom

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(CNN) – Veronica Pena says she has carefully spent the past year on the Covid-19 pandemic in the mostly Florida-free state. The Miami Beach resident has stopped going to bars, is tested regularly and has a close circle of friends with whom she interacts, who is just as careful as she is.
While waiting to take her Covid-19 vaccine, Pena has a new self-limitation: she will not venture near areas like South Beach that are regularly on a carefree vacation with maskless springbreakers. – and an escape from the restrictions that still apply in other parts of the country.

“I don’t see anyone taking any precautions at all,” Pena, 32, told CNN. “No one wears masks, no one takes social distance.”

Images from the South Florida spring season provide a bit of an indication that a deadly virus is still going on in the country. In the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University data, there have been an average of about 54,600 new cases and more than 1,000 virus-related deaths in the US.

Visitors from across the US flocked to some of the state’s most popular beaches during the day and strolled in bars and restaurants at night. About 100 people were arrested in Miami Beach this past weekend after police responded to rioting crowds, local officials said.

“You see those pictures of people crowding into pubs, especially indoors, no masks, basically no physical distance,” said Cindy Prince, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida. “This creates an unfortunate ideal situation for the transfer of Covid.”

And the crowds show little sign of thinning, and Miami Beach police chief said visitors have increased over the past few weeks – and the trend is likely to continue into April.

Pena is not only worried about catching the virus herself. Like local officials and experts, she says she is concerned that the crowds could lead to further spikes and devastation in her community and the country – which she experienced first-hand when she lost her grandmother to the virus in October.

“I am afraid of more deaths, just as I have seen and been part of the victims of Covid,” she said. “We lose people left and right because of the carelessness and carelessness.”

South Florida residents who spoke to CNN expressed the same concern, adding that they understand the difficult decisions of government leaders as they try to balance the desire for a healthy economy against the safety of a community. But according to residents, they wish the state welcomes visitors in a safer way, with a stricter application for rulers.

People enjoy themselves along Ocean Drive on March 19, 2021 in Miami Beach, Florida

People enjoy themselves along Ocean Drive on March 19, 2021 in Miami Beach, Florida

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

‘It does not look good’

Emily Arcia, who lives in Miami, said for months that she left home only when absolutely necessary, and only walked around the beach with her husband – and just after taking care of herself with masks and gloves.

While she was fully vaccinated, her husband just got his first shot and the couple – especially now – are getting nervous again.

“I live right in front of the ocean, I live right next to a park and it’s crowded,” Arcia, 66, said. “I don’t even go down on Saturdays and Sundays because there are just too many people.”

During the times when Covid-19 cases were increasing in the community, she would hear the sirens of first responders from her balcony – at a rate that occurred very frequently than normal. It’s a marker she’s afraid it’s coming again.

“I have no idea what can be done to prevent what I think is going to be an increase in cases,” she said. “I hope the number of vaccines … that are provided will somehow be able to have a balance. But you know, it does not look good.”

And it is not just the state that can see consequences.

“It’s not just about what will happen in Florida,” says Dr. Leana Wen. “It’s about what will happen when people return to wherever they come from and then become asymptomatic carriers that can transmit the virus to other vulnerable people.”

The returning springbreakers, she says, could fuel surges across the country.

About 12% of Florida’s population is fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. In the US, about 13% of the population is fully vaccinated.
A large crowd takes part in a party on a walking path near the beach during the spring break in Miami Beach on March 20, 2021

A large crowd takes part in a party on a walking path near the beach during the spring break in Miami Beach on March 20, 2021

Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

Local leaders fear for lost progress

Florida has reported more than 2 million infections and more than 32,700 virus-related deaths since the onset of the pandemic.
Local leaders across the state have decided to issue their own restrictions, including curfew rules and mask mandates. But a few days ago, DeSantis signed an executive order canceling all pandemic fines handed out between March 1, 2020 and March 10, 2021.
Some Florida officials say it has been a long, difficult road to turn their Covid-19 numbers in the right direction. They fear that the carefree holidaymakers – along with many contagious variants now circulating, and still a low number of residents who have been fully vaccinated – could wipe out the progress.
A general view of people partying in the Elbo Room at Fort Lauderdale Beach on March 14, 2021

A general view of people partying in the Elbo Room at Fort Lauderdale Beach on March 14, 2021

Larry Marano / Shutterstock

“We spent a lot of time and energy taking down all of our key indicators,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told CNN on Thursday. “It is clear that the spring break brings with it a flood of tourists and that they may not think as dutifully as the people who stay here and have to deal with the consequences later.”

Gelber, in Miami Beach, is also scared. “We have too many people who want to let go in ways that are unacceptable, and we have a pandemic, including, I think, really the core of the variant,” he said recently.

The variant – the B.1.1.7 – is already responsible for about 20 to 30% of all current infections in the country and it is increasing, said dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, said on Friday, adding that was likely associated with an “increase in disease severity.” Other recent research suggests that the variant may also be associated with a higher risk of dying from Covid-19.
According to the CDC, the state with the most reported cases of the Florida variant.

And experts, including Wen, have warned that as the high levels of infection continue while the country wants to vaccinate more Americans, it is likely that the virus will continue to mutate and that more variants could emerge, which could not only be more transmissible – but also poses a problem for vaccines.

“So the more the community spreads, the more these variants can develop and it can really deter us,” Wen said.

CNN’s Travis Caldwell contributed to this report.

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