Will spring breakers become super-spreaders?

Now, with their campuses likely shuttered, most spring breakers will return to hometowns across the country where any exposure to coronavirus could set off a contagion, public-health experts warned. They called for greater vigilance in those communities and sharply criticized Florida authorities for their slowness in closing beaches and nightspots.

“What is happening in Florida with spring break partying-on by students oblivious to the epidemiological implications of their actions is nothing short of tragic,” wrote Gregg Gonsalves, a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, in an email. “While many of us have been hunkering down to try to break the chains of infection in our communities, these young people have decided the pleasures of the moment are worth bring back the coronavirus to their friends and family.”

Justin Lessler, a professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the crush of swimsuit-clad students consuming large amounts of alcohol could create so-called “super-spreading events” that worsen the pandemic.