It's Fourth of July weekend, and restless patriots want to finally get out of their houses and go to the beach. But they'll have no such luck in Florida's Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner said it would be highly irresponsible to open the beaches, while Broward Mayor Dale V.C. Holness argued it was imperative to keep people safe, considering any open beaches have the potential to draw people from other counties.
“This is not something we are taking lightly,” Holness said. “We don’t like taking away the freedom of people to go to the beach. But if we don’t do this, we are going to lose lives.”
If you want an indication about how residents felt about that announcement, just listen to the mayors' Monday press conference, where they unveiled the official order.
"I'm encouraging everybody, you should stay at home, celebrate with your families, be grateful for the wonderful America that we have," Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper instructed.
The beachgoers in attendance didn't sound all that grateful as they heckled the mayor throughout her remarks.
"Where can we go vote?!" one heckler yelled later as another official took the mic. "He's a liar!" yelled another.
Listen to just a snippet of the disastrous presser below.
Florida is one of a handful of states to experience a new surge in coronavirus cases the past few weeks. Yet, the majority of those cases were among people under the age of 35 and not our most vulnerable citizens, explained White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx. Also of note, cases may be rising across the country, but the death rate is not.