Florida gambles on reopening, as virus numbers rise
by Leila Macor
Florida is reporting record daily totals of new coronavirus cases, but you’d never know it looking at the Sunshine State’s increasingly busy beaches and hotels.
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis wants tourists to return en masse to help bolster the local economy — and in so doing, help his ally President Donald Trump win over voters.
But many of those visitors are not wearing masks and ignoring social distancing guidelines, and striking a balance between protecting public health and saving people’s jobs is tricky.
On both Monday and Tuesday, Florida confirmed more than 2,500 new virus cases, bringing the state’s total caseload to more than 82,000, with more than 3,000 deaths.
While the number of deaths per day is not rising, the percentage of positive tests is, hitting 10.3 percent on Wednesday, compared to 5.5 percent the week before, according to the state health department.
Despite the worrying data, Floridians seem to have hit peak quarantine fatigue — they are fed up with the pandemic and the measures suggested to help keep it in check.
That means tempers are flaring between people who wear masks and those who refuse to do so.
“It’s not easy,” said Kathia Joseph, the owner of a French bakery in Miami Beach, a barrier island off the city itself.
“We really have to be after them, ask them to wear a mask, ask them to stay away. Some people, they’re not happy when you ask them to do that.”
Out in the street, a mask-free man trying to get into an Uber car argues with the driver.
On the beach, a so-called safe distancing ambassador is taunted by a group of people who are drinking and dancing.
Joseph says only about half of her customers obey guidelines designed to contain the spread of the virus.
That proportion sounds about right, says Diane, a 60-year-old woman who drove from Texas to relax in Miami Beach.
“It seems that some people just want to get on with their lives, and they’re going to take the chance,” said Diane, who declined to give her last name.
Then she went for a swim wearing her mask. (AFP)
