Granny shouldn’t be out here’: Maskless spring breakers flout South Beach COVID rules, governor forgives past fines

With a black mask pulled under his chin, 22-year-old Ace Beck weaved through spring breakers on busy Ocean Drive without any concern for catching COVID-19 — or unwittingly passing it on to somebody else.

The Alabama A&M junior, who spent Thursday afternoon in Miami Beach having fun and flirting with girls, said the big crowds didn’t worry him. For one, he said he believed the tropical climate in South Florida would keep the virus at bay. And he didn’t expect to run into any medically vulnerable seniors during spring break on South Beach.

“There’s no way that a girl can cough and I get it, it’s too hot,” Beck said, later adding: “Granny shouldn’t be out here anyways. It’s too many people.”

Just as public health officials and city leaders feared, South Beach has become inundated with bare-faced, care-free spring breakers over the last month. The virus is still spreading, but young party-goers from all parts of the U.S. are mingling without observing social distancing, and mostly without masks.

That threatens to prolong the pandemic at a time when daily cases are gradually decreasing statewide and bigger sections of the population are getting vaccinated, said University of Florida infectious disease professor Dr. J. Glenn Morris, Jr. On Friday, the Florida Department of Health reported 5,214 new COVID-19 cases statewide, about one in five coming from Miami-Dade County.

“We are getting closer to the end,” Morris told the Miami Herald. “Now is not the time to catch COVID.”

The city of Miami Beach — which one year ago used all its power to chase away spring breakers as the pandemic emerged — has tried to encourage mask wearing. A local order requires masks in public.

But officials are battling against the city’s well-earned reputation as a place for sun-soaked entertainment and, to some extent, the state’s own governor, who has repeatedly said that young people have little to worry about from the novel coronavirus.

Having long ago blocked cities from fining people for not wearing masks, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order this week unilaterally forgiving unpaid fees related to local COVID-19 orders. ...