But it’s not that easy in the pandemic. Yes, it’s a tough time, says Morgan on the holiday plane. For the children as well as for herself. Morgan is not vaccinated. Though she works as a preschool teacher in Maine. Recently she had to wear a mask there again because the corona numbers are increasing. “The little ones ask me why I don’t show my face.” She says she then takes off her mask for a brief moment and says, “Hey, that’s still me.”
For Morgan, Florida means freedom and finally a break from the oppressive everyday life.
For the USA, however, what is happening there could be the beginning of a new corona episode. With an open exit.
A holiday as a threat to the whole nation
Because in the USA it is no different than in many countries: the pandemic seems almost forgotten, people want their old lives back. And catch up on what you missed. Labor Day was on Monday, comparable to Labor Day in Germany. The great majority of Americans had the day off. Most of them use the long weekend for a little vacation. Above all, she is drawn south to Florida.
You could also say: You are voluntarily going to the Corona hell of the USA. Because in the state with its beaches, clubs and huge amusement parks around Orlando, the Covid 19 numbers are exploding like never before since the pandemic began. Just like almost the entire southern United States. Experts have therefore feared for weeks that there could be a very rude awakening for the entire United States after this Labor Day. After all, all parents fly home with their children from Orlando, Miami or Jacksonville. “We strongly recommend that anyone who is not vaccinated not travel,” warned Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director, at a press conference last week. It was the warning about Florida as a national superspreading event. However, this appeal did not reach Morgan and many others.
The CDC counted almost 50,000 new Covid 19 cases a day in Florida in mid-August. Converted to the population in Germany, that would correspond to around 200,000 cases a day.
Even if the numbers have recently fallen: The intensive care units of many hospitals in Florida are not only occupied to the last place. No, they are now so overcrowded that clinics have to switch to other wings and have to improvise. As good as it gets. Most seriously ill patients are not vaccinated. Important operations have been postponed for weeks.
It is particularly bitter that more people are dying of Corona in Florida than ever before. There are days when more than 1,000 corona deaths are counted. In the southernmost county of Miami-Dade, 15 school staff and teachers recently died, including a 30-year-old. That’s why many here only call Republican governor Ron DeSantis “Ron Death Santis” or “mass murderer”.