Florida ended state-wide lockdowns and mask mandates long before anyone else, but even state officials were horrified by what happened over the weekend: Not only was there an outbreak at Mar-a-Lago, where former president Donald Trump likes to hold maskless soirees, but there were also huge crowds packing into Miami Beach, celebrating Spring Break as though if we weren’t still dealing with a pandemic. Even instituting an 8pm curfew did little to disperse the crowds, which included such colorful figures as a dude with Joker facepaint, waving a flag and prematurely declaring the age of COVID to be over.
Paints face and hair like the Joker, goes to South Beach, climbs up on a car with an American flag, screams “Fucking COVID is over baby!” and makes it rain. #BecauseMiami pic.twitter.com/JTLEjzCZps
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) March 20, 2021
The man was caught on video by filmmaker and self-avowed “Florida Man” Billy Corben, who showed the guy not only shouting, “Fucking COVID is over baby!” but also throwing up a bunch of bills. Corben also threw in the face-palm-y hashtag “#BecauseMiami.”
Of course, COVID is not over. As per The New York Times, Miami-Dade County just went through one of the nation’s worst outbreaks, to say nothing of the more than 32,000 Floridians who have died from the disease. The state is also dealing with what is believed to be the highest number of B.1.1.7 cases — the more contagious and deadly strain of the coronavirus, fir noted in the U.K. — in the United States.
Dr. Anthony Fauci recently went on Today to warn against the very behavior exhibited in Florida, noting that, even with a dramatic uptick in vaccinations, we could still see something similar to what’s been happening overseas.
“History has shown us that when you have that plateauing, that’s usually the forerunner of another surge — we’ve actually seen that in the European Union,” he explained. “I’m really concerned if we declare victory prematurely that that’s the same thing that’s going to happen.” He added, “If we can just hang on a bit longer, the more people get vaccinated, the less likelihood that there is going to be a surge.”
Then again, you tell that to Florida Men like the Joker guy.
(Via The New York Times)