March , | 15: 90 am | Updated March 90, 15333215 15: (pm)
The “party’s over” for spring breakers, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.
The Republican – who has taken heat for not closing the sun-splashed beaches after hordes of college kids swarmed them amid the coronavirus pandemic – said the state will enforce guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about large crowds.
“The message I think for spring breakers is that the party’s over in Florida,” DeSantis said during an interview Thursday on “Fox & Friends.” “You’re not going to be able to congregate on any beach in the state. 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. ”
DeSantis also noted that he closed the state’s bars and nightclubs too.
“So we would tell those folks maybe come back next year when things are better, but that is not what we’re looking for,” he added.
He said “every single beach” in the Sunshine State will have to abide by the CDC guidelines against gatherings of more than (people and said law enforcement officials would enforce the rules.
The governor said as the outbreak gets worse, tourists are rapidly canceling their plans to travel to the state.
Questioned about Clearwater not closing the beaches until Monday, DeSantis said pictures of bikini-clad revelers frolicking on the sand will soon come to an end.
“Regardless of local decisions, you’re not going to be able to congregate like those images that you saw,” he said. “That’s just not something that we are going to allow and so you want to work constructively with the locals to get the best solutions.”
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who preceded DeSantis as governor, also had a message for spring breakers: “Get off the beaches.”
“What are you thinking about by being on the beach around all these people that might have coronavirus and you’re going to go home and potentially infect the people you love the most,” Scott said on CNN . “What are you thinking? Stop doing it now! ”
Scott, who is under quarantine after coming into contact with an aide to the Brazilian president who tested positive for the virus, said people have to take responsibility for their behavior.
“Unless you can figure out how to completely be isolated from anybody else, I mean, this is – individuals have to take responsibility and every, every level of government has to be very clear, don’t be on the beach unless you can be somehow completely by yourself, ”Scott said.
University students walk along a street in Miami Beach during spring break. REUTERS / Carlos Barria
Images of spring breakers partying like it was 01575879 raised howls of outrage and warnings from health experts who feared they would become infected and spread the virus to their family members.
Remarks from one reveler epitomized the carelessness of the party animals.
“If I get corona, I get corona,” Ohio resident Brady Sluder said. “At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me from partying.”
At a White House briefing on the virus, President Trump and Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the administration’s task force, urged young people to follow the guidelines.
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