Coronavirus slowing, not stopping spring break

Despite growing concern and spread of the coronavirus, throngs of college students on spring break have packed the sunny shores of Florida and other Gulf Coast states, prompting some cities to draw a line in the sand, and close beaches.

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The beach prohibition throws sand in the plans of some spring breakers, while others say the party must go on.

“If I get corona, I get corona,” Brady Sluder, on spring break from Ohio, told Reuters. “At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me from partying. … We’ve been waiting for Miami spring break for a while.”

In Florida, there are at least 328 confirmed cases and there have been eight deaths as of Thursday morning.

Spring break beach locales throughout the Sunshine State were ordered closed by city leaders in Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Clearwater and Miami, The Tampa Bay Times reported.

Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered bars and nightclubs throughout the state to close for 30 days. Although he has not gone as far as to close the state’s beaches, he has limited groups to less than 10 people in public, including on beaches.

Even as cases worldwide swell to more than 222,000 and nearly 9,000 deaths, spring breakers expressed frustration that iconic South Beach was closed amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"It’s really messing up with my spring break,” Brianna Smith, 21, from Wisconsin, told Reuters. “What is there to do here other than go to the bars or the beach? And they’re closing all of it. “I think they’re blowing it way out of proportion. I think it’s doing way too much.”

In Alabama, Mayor Robert Craft of Gulf Shores, announced Thursday the city will be closing its public beaches beginning at 7 a.m. Friday. Kraft called for all beaches to be closed for at least two weeks. State officials are also meeting Thursday to decide whether action is necessary at all the state’s beaches.

Spring break crowds were also seen crowding beaches in Texas, despite warnings of social distancing, KTRK reported.

“We’re just trying to roll with it,” Bryson Taylor of Ohio told The Washington Post. “We’re just living for the moment. … When stuff closes, we’re going to do it when it closes. But besides that, we’re just trying to have the best trip we can.”

Cox Media Group