OPINION: College students demonstrate spring break stupidity
Photo courtesy of Beto Galetto/Unsplash
During quarantine measures in the United States as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, some college students opted to stick to their spring break vacation plans.
April 23, 2020
In March, many college students decided to go on spring break to vacation hotspots using dirt cheap airfares due to the drop in travel as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Here’s one such case: According to an April 2 report from CNN, a group of about 70 students from the University of Texas chartered a plane to Florida, though the government and the CDC advised against any social gatherings including 10 or more people. As a result, 44 of those students were diagnosed as infected with COVID-19.
This is a serious problem since the symptoms might not have shown up in these people’s bodies, but the virus could easily spread to those around them with weakened immune systems. This is stupidity at its finest when the government tries to protect your safety by telling you that you will be infected if you travel to a hotspot, and you do it anyway because you think that you are invincible. According to a report from Business News, teens and people in their 20s are the ones most likely to become carriers for COVID-19 because they are the groups most likely to be out and about, and the most likely to be exposed to bacteria which can pass on to their friends and family. The most important thing to remember is that the virus may not affect you, but it will affect those around you who have weaker immune systems, such as your grandparents or younger siblings/cousins.
The important thing to remember with an outbreak of a disease like this is that it only takes one person ignoring the safety precautions for the disease to spread. Coronavirus has what’s called an R-value of 5.7, which means that on average, one person will transmit the disease to 5.7 others. Even worse, the virus can spread through things as simple as a cough or sneeze.
The most important way to prevent the spread of this is to practice social distancing, and just try to stay at home. I know a lot of students probably want to take this time to hang out with your friends, but if you stay home and do your part not to spread the virus, you will be able to go hang out with them sooner.
