Florida Opens Some Beaches On Day Of Biggest Coronavirus Case Increase

[JudyM]

Source: Forbes

Florida, which has close to 25,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, recorded 1,400 new infections, in the state's highest one-day jump yet. Under the new guidelines, beach activities are restricted to jogging, fishing, surfing, dog-walking and other forms of exercise, and leisure items, such as coolers, chairs and grills are not allowed.
...
The reopened beaches offer a "pathway back to normal life," Jacksonville mayor Lenny Curry said, but urged citizens to continue to practice social distancing.


Beach access is permitted daily between 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and between 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
"It can't be worse than being on a golf course or being in the grocery store," one beachgoer (said).
...
While many were thrilled to see the beaches reopened, one Florida population flourished during the closure: Sea turtles. According to a report from CNN, the empty beaches led to less litter and lighter foot traffic, allowing newly hatched eggs to emerge in peace.



Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marleycoyne/2020/04/18/florida-opens-some-beaches-on-day-of-biggest-cor

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[div class"excerpt"]The scene at Jacksonville Beach wasn't one of caution in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Crowds cheered and flooded the beach when police took the barriers down. People were seen swimming, biking, surfing, running and fishing.
Social distancing seemed to be the last thing on anyone's mind Friday. Some residents told CNN not being able to go to the beach was "torture." People were out with their towels, coolers and sunbathing. There were very few masks.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/17/us/jacksonville-florida-beach-reopen/index.html
( StuartG posted about Jacksonville yesterday, more beaches opening in northern FL, southern beaches hanging back)

[Butterflylady]

1. They'll know what real torture is when

They get covid-19.

[jimfields33]

3. Chances are 1 out of all of them might get it

Even churches with thousands attending only had one death. The virus is weird. It has no sense of logic.

[thesquanderer]

11. re: "Even churches with thousands attending only had one death"

So far. It can take up to 2 weeks to show symptoms, and some time after that for the most seriously affected to die. Also, even if only one died from it, that doesn't tell you how many may have been infected, and then able to spread the virus to others (and some of _those_ could have died, and/or sread the virus to others). There's no simple way to know whether those events ended up being "safe" or not at this point.

[groundloop]

4. Worse, they'll spread it to at-risk people... but they obviously don't care.

[Stuart G]

5. Stupid is what stupid is. The above picture (in original post) shows a lot of stupid.!!!

[Evolve Dammit]

25. Agree completely. And you can't fix it. Hope FL ER's are ready.

[FM123]

27. The problem is they are going to torture the rest of us, not just themselves.

Down here in South Florida (where it's blue) we are sheltering in place on lockdown during the day and on curfew at night - while the red counties up in the northern part of the state want to open the beaches! Yes we are going to know what real torture is, the red counties are going to make sure of that.

[PatSeg]

2. So many of them don't appear

to even be trying to social distance, like everything is normal.

[Stuart G]

9. Yes, I like your quote, "....like everything is normal"

....36,000 deaths due to a virus that travels through the air when someone coughs is not normal..
....Repeat ...36,000 deaths is not normal but...this is something that is normal......................
.
...........................................................................Lot's of stupid people in U.S.A.......

[PatSeg]

23. Its not like the information isn't available

to everyone, so this is clearly an example of willful ignorance. If their behavior only affected them, I suppose I could accept it, but too many innocent people will be hurt by their selfish behavior. "Lots of stupid people in U.S.A." and sometimes stupidity can be lethal.

[c_junk]

26. It is available...

But the media they prefer doesn't give it credence, so all that worry is merely hype...

[PatSeg]

29. Yeah

and the establishment news outlets are "fake news". The brainwashing is extraordinary.

[Politicub]

6. Florida is always going to Florida

and there’s little that can be done about it.

[hay rick]

8. Florida is always going to Flori-duh.

[groundloop]

7. This is unbelievably short sighted, they can't wait just a few weeks.

I've read of all the sacrifices made by all citizens during WW-II - that went on for YEARS. These morons can't even go a few weeks without engaging in self-indulgent activities that put others at risk.

[Stuart G]

10. Not only "short sighted, but also "unbelievably stupid"

[hay rick]

12. I mistrust Florida's statistics.

Florida is the third most populous state but its reporting puts it eighth in number of cases and tenth in number of deaths. Given Florida's large urban areas, high proportion of senior citizens, and DeSantis' tardy and inadequate "safer at home" declaration- I think Florida's COVID-19 numbers are significantly understated. DeSantis is motivated by public relations, not public health.

[dewsgirl]

13. I live here and know you are spot on.

[ashredux]

14. A Confederacy of Dunces.....

[Stuart G]

17. We take issue..."The American Confederacy of Dunces" takes issue..Yes, we have...

a number of true "dunces" in our confederation, and yes, some are far more dunce than others, but we
as an association do not want to be connected with those people on the beach..
...We are much more intelligent than those people on the beach. We have certain standards for duncehoond that are much higher in level of intelligence than those people on the beach...Yes, we will admit that we are pretty stupid, and that qualifies us as...."dunces", but we know deep in our hearts that we are not that stupid.....That "stupid" qualifies a person of being a..."total fool" which we are not. We have always held ourselves above the .."total fool" group, and I might say...we always will...

[ashredux]

21. In the words of our President...Who knew?

[Stuart G]

37. Yes, You have said it all..........."Who Knew"?????????? Maybe Italy knew. Perhaps South Korea?

...You know, those countries are "friends." All the moron needed to do was call the leaders of Italy and South Korea, or even China. But you are correct...WHO KNEW?

[LeftInTX]

15. That lady said she was cooped up for a month???

Couldn't she just leave her apartment and go for a walk?

[bullwinkle428]

38. Exactly! I walk 5-7 miles every day, maintaining social distance and putting on my mask

any time I'm going to be in the vicinity of anyone else.

[BusyBeingBest]

16. I think the risk of catching it outdoors, unless you are shoulder-to-shoulder

in a crowd like the spring-breakers, is pretty low. That said, the above photo would make me too nervous to go there. Maybe if they opened for more hours, morning to night, people would space themselves out more.

[GusBob]

33. Philadelphia parade of 1918

Within 3 days every hospital bed in the city was full

[RussBLib]

18. quite ironic

on the day/weekend when a few states are trying to re-open, they get the largest surge of cases or deaths. Perhaps ironic isn't the right word.

[ResistantAmerican17]

19. Perhaps "eat up with stupid"?

Effing Florida.

[patphil]

20. Not being able to go to the beach is torture?

How about struggling for every breath in and Intensive Care Unit?

These people are potential Darwin Award candidates.

[mitch96]

22. Well it will be interesting to see if there is a spike in covid cases and deaths in Jax..

I think 14 days or so..
m

[ffr]

24. Interesting. All I see are Covid-19 hosts. Where are the people?

[Warpy]

28. Dumb way to do it. It will be packed for those limited hours

The better idea would have been to limit the number of people using the beach by blocking off part of the parking lot.

[jb5150]

30. I live in Flagler County (between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach) ...

and I'm not going to the beach, I'm not going anywhere … I am going to the grocery store maybe once every 7 - 10 days. All this means is that now I have to hunker down some more … wait another 10 - 14 days and the second wave of this shit is going to hit. And sadly, it probably won't be the morons on the beach who will suffer the worst …. it will be their parents and grandparents who will die, but some of them will get very sick and clog the healthcare system.

[JudyM]

31. I feel for you. And all the seniors who are thinking what selfish nutjobs live in their community.

[Falcon101]

32. No Respect for the Common Good

Think about all the sacrifices our country went through during the World Wars, Korea Conflict, Vietnam, etc and yet these people cannot even sit at home and lay on the couch for the benefit of our country. They cannot just sit and read, do work on their residence, watch tv, do some cooking, etc? We have no country pride and commonwealth. Its all about me and what I want. I'm entitled to this and that. I don't get it.

[Steelrolled]

34. Doesn't this just increase the size of the herd who are immune?

It's a bit of a risky move for them, but herd immunity depends, in a cold analytical way, for more people to get infected and survive. And I have my doubts if that picture is representative, based on my observations on how news is reported.

[jb5150]

40. You're missing the point ..

that these idiots will be infectious for up to 2 weeks (maybe longer). They will get a lot of other people sick.

[Maxheader]

35. People are out of their ...

cotton picking minds...

[Budgies Revenge]

36. What does this remind me of.....

[Pantagruel]

39. Florida beach wear