A recent video released by CBS News on Wednesday that shows a number of spring breakers in Miami, Fla., downplaying concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak has sparked viral criticism online.
In the video, college spring breakers share their frustrations with the news network over the way the outbreak has impacted their way of life in recent weeks.
“It’s really messing up with my spring break. What is there to do here other than go to the bars or the beach?” one person, Brianna Leeder, said to the network. “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,” she added.
“What they’re doing is bad. We need a refund,” Atlantis Walker said. “This virus ain’t that serious. There’s more serious things out there like hunger and poverty, and we need to address that.”
Brady Sluder told CBS News that “whatever happens happens.”
“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me from partying,” he said. “I’ve been waiting, we’ve been waiting for Miami spring break for a while. About two months we’ve had this trip planned, two, three months, and we’re just out here having a good time.”
Shelby Cordell, who told the network she just turned 21, also said she wouldn’t let the outbreak stop her from enjoying herself in Florida.
“Yeah, I mean, we planned this trip a long time ago, and it was kind of up in the air if we would still go. But, like, we’re here. I just turned 21 this year, so I’m here to party, so it’s kind of disappointing, but we’re just making the most of it,” she said.
“We met these other people in our little Airbnb spot,” she said before gesturing to others off-camera, “So we’re just hanging out with them and trying to get drunk before everything closes.”
“We’re just trying to roll with it,” Bryson Taylor told CBS News. “We’re just living for the moment. We’re just going to do what happens, when it happens, 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,” he added.
The video, which has racked up more than 3 million views since it was posted Wednesday, has prompted viral criticism from social media users amid concerns over the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Though Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he will not order beaches in his state to close amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Republican said beaches must adhere to guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has advised the public to practice social distancing and avoid gatherings with more than 10 people.
However, in efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus in Florida, which has reported more than 300 cases of the virus and 8 deaths so far, some local officials have been closing down beaches to combat the outbreak, according to NBC News.