28 spring breakers test positive for coronavirus

We all saw the images over the past few weeks.

Thousands of college students partying and having a grand time in spring break hotspots like Florida, South Texas, and other international places like Mexico.

All this partying was going down as coronavirus transmission rates were beginning to skyrocket and while lockdowns had been issued all over the country and in major cities.

But still, some young people could not pass up an opportunity to have a good time hanging out and drinking on the beach.

We already saw a handful of spring breakers in Florida come back and test positive for coronavirus but now there is a new batch of spring breakers that is even bigger.

28 University of Texas students tested positive for coronavirus after a trip to Los Cabos, Mexico.

About a week and a half ago, a group of about 70 people in their 20s took a chartered flight down to Mexico for spring break. 28 of those have tested positive including some of which who were asymptomatic.

Some of the students flew back on a commercial flight so there is a high chance that they spread this to others on the return flight.

Reportedly, the 28 students are self isolating right now and efforts are being made to trace their contacts and encourage them to quarantine as well.

So in this situation, it’s very possible that some people could have caught coronavirus from others who simply just wanted to party. 

I think the month of March was truly the wake up call month.

Many people around the country were naïve about the realities of this disease and made very stupid decisions like heading down in large groups to Mexico for spring break.

I’m going to try to not pass too much judgment since we were all young and stupid at one point in our life but this was a hugely irresponsible and borderline reckless decision. (I think it also extends to the parents who should have known better and could now be at risk if they came into contact with their kids.)

Now that we have learned what we’ve learned in the month of March (i.e., this disease will find a way to spread rapidly anywhere), I think April is the month of following through with the social distancing guidelines and avoiding stupid decisions like those.

Group activities — no matter how sacred or special you feel they are, and no matter how long you have looked forward to them, and no matter how much they mean to you — do not need to be going on right now.

Period.

We should all know better by now.

And personally, I think the people who are heading up these activities should face consequences at this point.

Whether they are a tour operator, restaurant, or pastor, they know the risks they are inviting the public to take at this point. And those risks are inexcusable. 

As for us travelers, now is the time that we just have to suck it up and cancel or postpone trips.

In the end, we are likely only talking about another two months of lockdown. That seems like a long time and it will probably feel like a long time while it is going on but in retrospect two months is nothing. 

By the time June comes around, many of the large cities in the US will have already reached peak transmission and many will be on a stable decline in cases. It also looks like some cities and states have the disease in check and may not even suffer huge losses like we have seen in states in the Northeast.

At that time, we can reevaluate when we feel like we want to travel but right now we have to get to that point and it requires us to sacrifice certain things and that’s just the way it is.