CDC chief says Northerners heading South for vacation may be to blame for surge in coronavirus cases, not state reopenings https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/14/cdc...n-coronavirus-cases-not-state-reopenings.html We’re of the view that there was something else that was the driver. Maybe the Memorial Day, not weekend, but the Memorial Day week, where a lot of Northerners decided to go South for vacations,” Redfield said.
Who the heck goes to Florida on vacation in the summer. Nearly all the people in Florida travel north in the summer. Nearly everyone in Florida and everywhere else in the South is laughing at this CDC chief's assertion.
Exactly. The overwhelming majority head south come winter, which is why I have already tentatively postponed my annual trip to Arizona. The place is a zoo come January
Seeing that Florida is supposed to be blocking tourists at the state line and demanding they quarantine. It would be hard for tourists to be the problem if Florida operated effective checkpoints to stop the tourists. Checkpoints without checks? Secret price tags? Florida needs COVID-crisis plan, not security theater. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opi...0200714-dkfqbxgigbgcvdc4a55e3bf6hq-story.html JUL 14, 2020AT2:20 PM Maybe you know Florida has a COVID-19 checkpoint set up on Interstate 95 — theoretically to stop outsiders from bringing the coronavirus to our state. By now, the checkpoint seems backwards. With Florida posting record numbers of infections, most of America wants to stop us from leaving. Still, traffic often backs up into Georgia as cars are funneled into one or two lanes so that troopers can quiz drivers about where they’re coming from, collect data and then give it to health officials to track suspected virus carriers. That’s the theory anyway. Frankly, I’ve long wondered if the whole set-up wasn’t just security theater — a show that costs taxpayers money, drivers time and accomplishes little. I wondered that even more two weekends ago when — after a long slowdown caused by reduced lanes — my own family drove right through one of these alleged check points where there wasn’t anyone checking anything. Big signs. Big slowdowns. No actual checks. Not for me nor other drivers. So I asked around. Many others reported the same thing … including a state senator. State officials claimed the checks were taking place “24 hours a day.” But evidence suggested otherwise. Even more troubling, though, are hidden details about the cost. I wanted to know how much these checkpoints — now in their fourth month — are costing. So nine days ago, I started asking questions of all three divisions involved — the departments of transportation, highway safety and health. None has provided an answer. This is a disturbingly common occurrence in Ron DeSantis’ administration. I’ve covered four Republican governors over the past two decades. Never have I encountered one so slow and dismissive of requests for public information. Last month, after DeSantis suggested migrant farmworkers shouldered much of the blame for spreading COVID-19, I asked state health officials if they had any data, metrics or evidence to back that up. No one ever responded. The month before that, I asked if Florida was doing anything to ensure that taxpayer-funded voucher schools were still educating students during the pandemic. No one responded. DeSantis frequently whines about media ignoring the facts while his administration refuses to provide them. In this case, I just wanted to know how many public dollars are being used, so taxpayers could judge whether they were getting their money’s worth. Either state officials don’t know, or they won’t tell you. Neither reason is acceptable. But I was told the checks were still running “24 hours a day with more than a dozen troopers in 12-hour shifts.” Except I saw zero troopers working zero shifts. Still, I’ve come to accept that we now live in a world with “alternative facts.” As a result, when someone claims the sky is green, water is dry or the earth is flat, journalists are forced to confirm that those things are still blue, wet and round. So I turned to social media to ask readers if I was the only one who had driven through a checkpoint with no checks. I was not. Jenny reported that signs told her family “to go in the right lane for a COVID checkpoint, but no one was at the checkpoint.” She emphasized her confusion with a shrug emoji. Julie said she saw “signage, troopers, but no one being stopped.” Kathy reported: “Same experience you had on two separate occasions. No one being checked, but traffic was at a standstill.” And Linda also reported driving through and seeing “nothing.” Linda’s last name is Stewart, by the way. She’s a state senator. It went on and on like that with dozens of similar stories. Some others said they were briefly stopped and quizzed. And a few reported being thoroughly questioned after returning from a hot spot. But they were the minority. If this was security theater, it was one where the actors weren’t even bothering to put on a show. The system was designed to catch drivers coming in from hot-spot states. And I’ll generously presume it has had some effect. A March announcement said checkpoints were being set up at entry points from Alabama and Georgia. The goal: Catch visitors from Louisiana, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and instruct them to isolate themselves for 14 days before roaming around Florida and to “be prepared for additional monitoring” by the department of health. In June, the state announced it was closing the checkpoint near Alabama, but keeping the other. DOT spokeswoman Beth Frady said last week that the state had collected 43,300 traveler forms from among what traffic counts suggest were millions of drivers who passed through. That’s worth something ...ifall the follow-through took place. Of course, this safety measure can be foiled by something as simple as a Floridian returning from New Jersey who simply says they were visiting Virginia … or maybe the 200-foot-tall sombrero at South of the Border. More important, it’s clear many cars weren’t stopped at all. No matter what their license plates or occupants said. This is Florida’s COVID-crisis response in a nutshell; questionable in its efficacy and with details the public can’t always access. All while Florida makes headlines for high virus counts, deaths and hospitalizations. But look! There’s a big sign on the highway that says we’re keeping the virus in Georgia ... even if we’re not sure how often that’s enforced or how much of your money was spent on it.
Haven't you heard? They're now called "sunbirds", not "snowbirds". Everyone from the sweltering temps in the Northern summers LOVE to come down to the aluminum-melting heat indices of the south at the peak of summer, because skin cancer and heat stroke is fake news! I mean, this coming weekend, it is supposed to be one of the hottest and most stifling weekends in the Boston area. The first place New Englanders think of going to when melting in 100-degree heat indices is Florida. *bonk*
https://www.frommers.com/destinations/florida/planning-a-trip/when-to-go The weather determines the high seasons. In subtropical South Florida, high season is in the winter, from mid-December to mid-April, although if you ask tourism execs, the high season is now creeping further into spring and even, in some parts, summer. On the other hand, you'll be rewarded with incredible bargains if you can stand the heat, humidity, and daily rainstorms of a South Florida summer between June and early September. In North Florida the reverse is true: Tourists flock here during the summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
I recall first landing at Miami Int in later September 1999. I had my own big backpack plus three 50 pound duffels filled with tea for a friend's tea shop. It was a real handful. I see a taxi, step out the sliding door and instantly blind with fogged sunglasses then I walk into a girl who crossed my path, real Mr Bean scene, we both ended up on the ground. Shared the cab though so alright. Too steamy that place.