Massive crowds continue to gather in Miami despite 8pm restrictions

Spring Breakers partied into the weekend in Miami despite officials putting a curfew in place to stop crowds from gathering on the boardwalk.  

Worries about renewed Covid-19 outbreaks prompted Miami officials to enact a nighttime curfew following an infusion of rowdy ‘spring breakers’ that have frustrated locals.

An 8pm curfew was put into place in the entertainment district for Thursday through Monday, March 29. Road closures lasted from 10pm until 6am, the Miami-Dade Transportation & Public Works shared on Twitter. 

The MacArthur, Venetian and the Julia Tuttle Causeway were partially closed, with the agency sharing that there could be delays to Metrobus routes until March 29. 

Despite the road closures, party goers still took to the streets and many ignored Miami Beach police officers who tried to get them to leave. 

While there were a few people wearing masks, the vast majority of those out partying did not appear to have masks on. 

‘What we are experiencing this year is not your typical spring break,’ Miami Beach Commissioner Steven Meiner said to CBS Miami of the chaos at the beach.  

Meiner also described the large crowds as being too unruly for authorities. 

‘Our officers are far outnumbered and really we don’t have the resources to contain the amount of crowds and the kind of behavior we’re seeing,’ Meiner added. 

‘We had over 100 illegal guns confiscated, drugs, it just really became a necessity at that point to do the curfew,’ said Commissioner Meiner.’ 

Many Miami residents are in favor of the curfew, noting that the spring breakers have made life miserable for them. 

The scenes from Miami Beach come as a top public health official said she was ‘deeply concerned’ about the trajectory of COVID-19 cases. 

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the number of new cases over a 7-day period increased seven percent over the previous week. She also said hospitalizations are increasing, which could be a sign of a surge in cases approaching.  

‘I remain deeply concerned about this trajectory. We have seen cases and hospital admissions move from historic declines to stagnations to increases. And we know from prior surges that if we don’t control things now, there is a real potential for the epidemic curve to soar again,’ she said, ABC News reports.

Some 30,129,858 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the United States and 547,756 people have died. 

According to the Florida Department of Health, there are currently 2,033,179 total cases in Florida while there have been 33,756 people who have died from the virus.