Giving up travel plans is not easy and often hurts — especially for times like spring break where you have been anticipating a trip or just a break from the grind of school, work, or even family life.
But some students have been reckless with their spring break travels over the past couple of weeks. We’ve seen herds of spring breakers congregating at crowded beaches in popular spots in South Florida and South Texas — not to mention other international hot spots.
And when interviewed or asked about their worries about the virus we’ve heard quotes like “If I get corona, I get corona.”
Well, we just heard that a handfull of college students have tested positive for coronavirus and are now self isolating in Florida.
Specifically, six students at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida, have tested positive for coronavirus, five of which were traveling together for spring break.
The University stated in a Facebook post:
Five students were traveling together and with other UT students during spring break. One of the students did not return to campus after spring break, and four returned to campus. All are self-isolating – the latter four on campus — and none have been hospitalized.
So there you have it, at least five students who were traveling together during spring break have been infected with the virus.
The announcement is sparse on details (we don’t know exactly where they traveled and what they did) but you could imagine that these handful of students could have come into contact with tons of other students during their travels.
It’s also possible that upon their return they came into contact with family and friends some of which could have been at risk.
So this is just another clear example of why it is necessary to exercise caution (or at this point just common sense) even when the temptation for having a good time is running high.
The statistics show that these students will probably be okay and will most likely not even experience severe symptoms. But it is also possible that before their symptoms manifested they were in close contact with others who might be more likely to experience severe symptoms or even death.
At this point, I would say it is reckless to spend time in any crowded space unless absolutely necessary for the health or safety of yourself or others. Hopefully as more stories like this emerge, the seriousness of the need to prevent close contact with others will get through to more people.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
