No, all you stupid college kids cavorting on Florida beaches for spring break, swapping spit and other bodily fluids. You are not invincible.
What’s more, the CDC announced that COVID-19 is more of a threat for younger people than originally thought. It turns out that up to 20 percent of hospitalizations for the disease are those aged 20-44 and 2-3 percent in that age group end up in intensive care.
In general, the U.S. experience largely mimics China’s, with the risk for serious disease and death from Covid-19 rising with age. But in an important qualification, an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Wednesday underlines a message that infectious disease experts have been emphasizing: Millennials are not invincible. The new data show that up to one-fifth of infected people ages 20-44 have been hospitalized, including 2%-4% who required treatment in an intensive care unit.
Still feel like rolling the dice? Here’s more on your odds.
Still, the most severe cases, and the highest rates of death, are among the elderly. Although 17% of the U.S. population is 65 or older, 31% of cases were in that age group, CDC experts concluded in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. While it is possible that the elderly have more chances to be infected than younger people, such as by living in nursing homes, that is considered unlikely, since younger adults encounter many others at work and school.
This youngster is a prime example of someone who needs to be shut away somewhere so he can’t harm himself or others.
“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not gonna let it stop me from partying”: Spring breakers are still flocking to Miami, despite coronavirus warnings. https://t.co/KoYKI8zNDH pic.twitter.com/rfPfea1LrC
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 18, 2020
“Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”
And these partiers aren’t any better.
Clearwater Beach, Florida is PACKED today despite "social distancing" recommendations. https://t.co/WzGydcP1Ja pic.twitter.com/vsRD4QLbhr
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) March 16, 2020
For Florida beaches, it’s the Amity Island syndrome. If you close the beaches, you ruin dozens of businesses. So you take your chances and hope the shark stays away — or the virus takes a vacation somewhere else.
Clearwater Beach is an exception. They closed their beach — but for only two weeks. And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is still refusing to close the rest of the beaches. It’s a tough call, to be sure. Spring break is a sacred rite for many college kids and the cash generated by all those visitors will see those small businesses through the rest of the year.
Trump is under no illusions about why kids are ignoring him and the government.
“We don’t want [young people] gathering, and I see they do gather, including on beaches, including in restaurants — young people,” Trump said. “They’re feeling invincible … but they don’t realize that they can be carrying lots of bad things home to grandmother and grandfather and even their parents. So we want them to heed the advice. We mean the advice. And I think it’s getting through.”
It’s so simple even a brainwashed, indoctrinated college kid should be able to figure it out. You can play Russian Roulette with your own life if you want, but have mercy on the rest of us and do as you’re told: stay away from crowds and party at home.
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