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The nation and many parts of the world are in isolation in an attempt to slow the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), a deadly pandemic caused by acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Public health officials have strongly suggested that everyone practice social distancing, so that as few people as possible become infected. While many of us may survive it, at-risk groups like the elderly and the immunosuppressed are in true danger, especially because there is no known cure currently. All of this information is out there for public consumption, so you’d think it would stop people from going about their normal social lives — especially with most businesses being closed or operating on a reduced schedule — but, nope. It seems wherever there’s a beach, there are people congregating. Florida beaches, for example, were packed with people during Spring Break and now according to reports, some of the students who went on vacay during the informal holiday do, in fact, have Coronavirus.

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“At least five students from the University of Tampa have tested positive for coronavirus after traveling with other students from the school for spring break, the university announced on Twitter. This comes after crowds of spring-breakers in Florida were criticized for ignoring social distancing guidelines and packing beaches in complete disregard of the potential risk,” CBS News writes, adding “University of Tampa announced on Friday that it learned that one student, who resides off-campus, tested positive for the virus. Just a day later, the school confirmed that five students, who were part of a larger group traveling together during spring break, had tested positive.”

The site goes on to say the school moved all classes online as of March 17 due to the virus, but many students were in close contact over Spring Break anyway. Let this be a lesson to not ignore the warnings issued by public health officials, as there were so many people together for Spring Break, from so many different states, that the risk potential in a situation like this becomes boundless.

We are keeping everyone who’s been affected by this pandemic in our prayers as this time and hoping for speedy recoveries.