- The coronavirus pandemic coincided with spring break 2020, but students across the world continued spring breaking anyway.
- But as the coronavirus continued to spread across the US and the world, some of the hottest spring break destinations, like Miami and Fort Lauderdale, canceled spring break.
- Others, like South Padre Island, waited until as late as March 18 to implement restrictions like limited gatherings that would essentially cancel spring break, despite CDC guidelines recommending canceling or postponing gatherings of more than 50 people and President Donald Trump’s message urging Americans to limit gatherings of more than 10 people.
- Here’s how spring break hot spots did – or didn’t – respond to the coronavirus warnings.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
In Miami, spring break was canceled.
Miami officials shut down South Beach (the most popular part of Miami Beach), limited crowds to 250 people, and implemented an 11 p.m. curfew on March 15, Business Insider’s Hillary Hoffower previously reported.
On March 17, officials implemented stricter rules for Miami-Dade County, making it illegal to have a gathering of more than 10 people on Miami Beach, Business Insider reported.
The county also closed all non-essential businesses, including restaurant dining rooms, bars, and movie theaters.
Miami-Dade County alone has nearly 2,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of March 31, and on April 1, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered citizens to stay home for 30 days beginning on the evening of April 2, NBC reported.
It was canceled in Fort Lauderdale, too.
Fort Lauderdale city officials also closed a section of Fort Lauderdale Beach, limited crowds to 250 people, and implemented a 10 p.m. curfew, according to Business Insider.
The mayors of both Miami and Fort Lauderdale told Reuters they'd issue fines to people breaking restrictions.
Fort Lauderdale is in Broward County, which had 1,209 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of March 31.
As Business Insider's Hoffower reported on Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis still refused to shut the beaches down statewide, leaving the decision up to local governments. As of Monday morning, Florida is nearing 5,000 identified cases of coronavirus and DeSantis has yet to issue a stay-at-home order.
South Padre Island didn't cancel spring break initially. But by March 18, it had set some regulations to temper the spread of the virus.
South Padre Island in Texas did not close beaches for spring break initially, according to Reuters. City spokesperson Nikki Soto told Reuters that the city recommended not starting a beach party, but no one will be ticketed.
While Texas Governor Greg Abbott restricted visiting nursing homes and hospitals on March 13, he did not address tourist hot spots, Bloomberg News reported. There were no confirmed cases in the area at the time, but a couple that had been vacationing there recently tested positive for the coronavirus after returning to their home state of Michigan. The couple left South Padre Island on March 11.
On March 18, South Padre Island set several new regulations to prevent the spread of the virus, including limiting gatherings of more than 10 people on beaches, social distancing at restaurants, and a 10 p.m. curfew.
Cameron County, where South Padre Island is located, had 26 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of March 31.
In Nassau, Bahamas, spring break wasn't canceled initially, but now the whole country is shut down.
Student Travel Services, or STS Travel, hosts spring break programs in Cancún, Cabo, Jamaica, Punta Cana, and its most popular destination, Nassau, according to Business Insider.
STS Travel posted a video on Facebook of 250 college students partying on a booze cruise in Nassau on March 16 - the day after the Bahamas had its first confirmed case of coronavirus.
According to Jake Jacobsen, vice president of STS Travel, only 20% of customers canceled their traveling plans after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic and the US government requested avoiding social gatherings of over 10 people.
But STS Travel limited the number of passengers to 250 people because of the outbreak, which is about half of the typical amount, and the cruise in the video was the last cruise of the Nassau 2020 program.
On March 24, with four confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Bahamas, Dr. Hubert Minnis, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, enacted an emergency order that halted international travel and told residents to stay home aside from essential travel to the doctor, grocery store, bank, pharmacy or gas station. All public beaches, markets, and docks are closed. This order is expected to remain in place until April 30.
Ibiza totally shut down, taking spring break down with it.
Spain's Balearic Islands, which includes Ibiza, shut down all clubs and bars, restricted restaurants' capacity by at least one third, and told residents to stay home for 15 days on March 13, according to Mirror. Since then, the Balearic Islands have told residents to stay home until April 11, according to the Boston Globe.
There were over 1,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Balearic Islands as of March 31, according to Rtve.
And so did Barcelona.
Spain declared a state of emergency on March 13, implementing social restrictions for at least 15 days, Business Insider reported.
Spain ordered residents to stay indoors during this time, aside from necessary trips. Spanish police are using drones to check the streets for people dismissing the order, according to Business Insider.
Spain had 94,400 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of March 31.
Parts of Mexico still held spring break, and some students tested positive upon returning home.
A resort called Villa Del Mar Cancún updated a press release on Monday stating that there are temperature-screening measures in effect at some of the area's airports, but there are no travel restrictions to Mexico because of the coronavirus.
There were four confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Cancún as of mid-March, according to the Mexican government. But the Latin Post reported on March 16 that, so far, the pandemic hadn't had a significant effect on tourism. However, that might be about to change.
Tony Plohetski, a senior reporter at KVUE-TV, recently tweeted that Austin officials confirmed 28 people who spent spring break in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, tested positive for coronavirus after returning home. Four of them showed no symptoms of the virus.
Mexico also shut down all "non-essential activities," including private businesses, until at least April 30.
Mexico has over 1,200 confirmed cases of the coronavirus per the latest available estimates.
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