Domino Effect: Florida College Students Test Positive For COVID-19 After Spring Break

By Neil P. Mar 24 2020, 06:29 AM EDT

The University of Tampa in Florida announced through its social media account that five of their students who went to a spring break trip were confirmed positive for COVID-19.

Pres. Donald Trump and his administration are very serious in taking on the COVID-19 pandemic. They are doing everything to slow down the transmission of the virus even if it includes the country to shutting down schools and business establishments.

In fact, Pres. Trump has restricted the gathering of more than 50 persons and to observe proper social distancing. However, for some, they are not taking the problem seriously. In fact, many beachgoers, mostly college students, went to beaches in Florida to party.

It was also reported in the recently published article by Latin Post that younger generations or those who age from 20 to 44 years old are most of the time easily get infected by the virus because of their reckless behavior that includes not following the guidelines and advices from the President and Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

FLORIDA COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

There were five Florida college students who tested positive for the virus according to the announcement of the University of Tampa. They are now in the process of recovering from the infectious and deadly virus that killed almost 400 individuals in the country.

The school decided not to mention any details of the students to protect them and their families from any forms of discrimination. However, it is still not clear until now as to where they have traveled and how many were with them. Contact tracing is very important because those who have direct contacts with them may also be infected by the virus.

None of the students decided to be admitted in the hospital, Instead, they chose to stay at their homes and were reportedly self-isolating.

In a recently published article, these five students traveled together during the school's spring break from March 8 to 15 amid the threat of COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the school also released a statement through their social media account. The school wrote: "UT has been notified that five UT students, traveling together and with other UT students during Spring Break, have tested positive for COVID-19. We sincerely wish our students, and any others who may be affected, a full and rapid."

What is alarming is four out of five students who tested positive for COVID-19 returned to the school after their break, while one did not. This means that students, teachers, and other personnel in the school who have direct contact with the students also need to self-quarantine because there is a big chance that they are also infected.

Meanwhile, The University of Tampa has recently announced also that another student, the sixth-student, was also confirmed positive for the virus after it traveled internationally during the school's spring break.

SPRING BREAK IN FLORIDA

Spring break in the state of Florida was greatly criticized because amid the advice, guidelines, and warnings from the federal government, CDC, and health experts to avoid mass gatherings and to practice social distancing, still many went to the beaches to party.

It can be recounted that Governor. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla. had refused to shut down the popular beaches in the state following the decision of the local governments.

In an interview with the Governor, he said: "[The government] wants you to social distance, of course. But they actually encourage people to get fresh air. They just don't want you congregating in big groups. And so if you have a Floridian that goes and walks their dog, like a married couple on the beach, as long as you're not within six feet of each other, they view that as a healthy thing."

Moreover, following the criticisms, the mayors in Miami, Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, Naples, and Jacksonville have since closed their beaches for beachgoers and visitors.