- Dozens of young spring breakers have the novel coronavirus after heading to Mexico despite advice from health and government officials to avoid such trips.
- 28 cases have been confirmed out of around 70 young adults who made the trip, and each of the confirmed COVID-19 patients is now in self-isolation.
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A group of spring breakers from Austin, Texas, returned to the state and brought a whole bunch of infectious diseases with them. As The Hill reports, the Austin Public Health Department confirmed that roughly 70 20-somethings took an ill-advised trip to Mexico to celebrate Spring Break in Cabo San Lucas, and now nearly half of them have tested positive for the novel coronavirus that is sweeping the nation.
Health officials and government agencies have advised avoiding all travel for several weeks now, and students across the United States were urged to pause or cancel their Spring Break plans out of an abundance of caution. Many did just that, but others decided to roll the dice, and now they and their loved ones are paying the price.
The Austin Public Health Department notes that the individuals who tested positive are self-isolating right now, adding that not all of the confirmed infected travelers had symptoms.
About a week and a half ago, approximately 70 people in their 20’s departed in a chartered plane for a spring break trip. Some of the group returned on separate commercial flights. Currently, 28 young adults on this trip have tested positive for COVID-19 and dozens more are under public health investigation. Four of the confirmed cases did not present any symptoms.
There has been no shortage of recent stories of young people taking unnecessary risks in the midst of the global pandemic. Government officials have suggested that this trend is a combination of teens and young adults feeling “invincible” and statistics that show that the virus often doesn’t affect young people in the same way it can cause severe symptoms in older adults.
“The virus often hides in the healthy and is given to those who are at grave risk of being hospitalized or dying,“ Dr. Mark Escott, Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority, said in a statement. “While younger people have less risk for complications, they are not immune from severe illness and death from COVID-19.”
The decision to ignore social distancing guidelines because you feel you won’t be personally affected by the virus is shortsighted at best. It’s true that some, including young people, will not become seriously ill if they do get COVID-19, but the risk they pose to others is far greater. An individual who is asymptomatic could spread the virus to many others, including some who may have much more severe reactions. Risking the lives of others for a Spring Break vacation is, well, a more than a little foolish.
