Spring Breakers Take Over Miami Despite COVID-19 Pandemic, Miami Beach Mayor “Very Concerned”

One year after spring break was cut short, college and university spring breakers are returning to Florida.

However, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber shared that it’s a bit concerning that kids choose to return to Miami in the middle of a pandemic.

According to People, Florida has no mask mandate, and Miami0dade County alone is still seeing at least 1,000 new COVID cases a day. 

“I’m not opposed to college kids having fun — just not in the middle of a pandemic,” Broward County Mayor Steve Geller stated.

Flights are cheap, and the discounted rooms make Florida an attractive place to many after being “pent up and wanting to get out with no other place to go than here,” Gelber said. But, still, “we are very worried that there’s going to be a convergence of people here and a real problem in the aftermath of that.”

Gatherings at bars are Gelber’s biggest worry, as they might quickly turn into “super-spreaders” for the virus. 

“I would love to have the governor’s voice urging people to be responsible, but we really don’t have that right now,” Gelber said. “Since we opened everything up and didn’t allow us to impose a mask mandate, there has been a massive amount of suffering.” 

Nonetheless, Miami Beach is expecting to see students from over 200 schools this spring break season. According to Gelber, police will be “handing out face masks in the absence of a mask mandate.”