Quarantine Fails to Convince Beachgoers, Partiers

To state the obvious, the United States is in the midst of an unprecedented health crisis. A dangerous, highly contagious pandemic is quickly taking root and spreading throughout the country. It threatens to overwhelm our healthcare system and do major damage to the economy.

The US population has no immunity to this new virus. It infects the respiratory system, and a substantial percentage suffer severe, life-threatening symptoms. It can travel through air or stay on surfaces for days. The virus has an initial asymptomatic period during which it is still contagious, making it extremely difficult to prevent its spread under normal circumstances.

The stock market, in sober anticipation of the economic cost that this pandemic will likely exact, has plummeted in response to its sustained growth. The US healthcare system is girding for what may well be the most difficult trial in its history.

Projections vary, but the fatalities could potentially number well above a million by the time a vaccine emerges.

SOAKING UP THE SUN: Dozens of beachgoers were seen soaking up the sun along Gandy Beach despite a city order closing it down due to the coronavirus pandemic. DETAILS: https://t.co/ExVTPuchKC pic.twitter.com/Vkihwl5oRs

— FOX 13 Tampa Bay (@FOX13News) March 22, 2020

A Nation Responds

In anticipation of these challenges, the United States, like most of the world, has initiated strict quarantine measures, especially in heavily hit states like Florida and California. Social distancing, the limiting of human contact, is currently our only hope to contain the virus’ spread and limit the damage that other countries have suffered.

A few months ago, this would have sounded like science fiction. However, the decade has begun with this difficult reality. As with previous watershed moments in the country’s history, Americans are being called to unite in shared sacrifice, as the government scrambles to anticipate and mitigate the economic, social, and public health costs.

Against this stark backdrop was an unexpected and frankly embarrassing sight this weekend. In California, residents flocked in huge numbers to the state’s southern beaches, unwilling to let the risk of spreading a lethal illness cheat them out of the year’s first tan. In Florida, college students continued their frustrated quest to party during their “extended spring break”. After being kicked off of the beaches, students in Boca Raton tried to circumvent the quarantine by packing onto boats and drinking off the coast.

As residents in two of the sunniest states find innovative new ways to avoid being kept away from each other, city and state-level governments have had to adapt with new regulations and prohibitions. In Florida, “spring breakers forced the shutdown” of the state’s beaches, as Senator Rick Scott put it.

South Florida beaches packed despite coronavirus fears as spring break arrives.

So far, COVID-19 not keeping beachgoers from enjoying spring break.https://t.co/NamI4qZSZ0

— Larry Richman (@larry411) March 15, 2020

Caifornia has stopped short of closing its scenic hiking trails and beautiful beaches. It has reinforced its social distancing protocols, including maintaining a 6-feet distance from others, and blocked all beach parking in an attempt to stem the large crowds of people.

The coronavirus highlights a generational divide already growing in the United States. Older generations, such as Baby Boomers, The Silent Generation, and the few remaining members of the Greatest Generations, are at far greater risk of grave complications from the disease. Meanwhile, Millennials and especially Generation Z, whose oldest members are now college-age, feel less vulnerable to the disease and thus less inclined to suffer major lifestyle changes as a result of it.