Phase One Does Not Mean COVID-19 Is Over

Gabriela Enamorado/Staff Writer

We’ve all been longing to sunbathe at the beach, have movie nights at the cinema and visit our loved ones since quarantine began. Remember what it was like to hang out with friends? 

On May 18, Miami-Dade and Broward County entered phase one of reopening businesses after being on lockdown since March. Phase one consists of opening gyms, restaurants, barber shops and retail stores. Of course, this comes with new social distancing measures. 

Although this is the first step towards going back to normal, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The virus is not over and we should still be taking precautions. 

Phase one does not mean we should all head over to our friends’ houses and let loose. We should still be practicing social distancing. South Florida is the epicenter of the virus in our state. This means that there are plenty of opportunities for anyone to get infected. 

Going to large social gatherings is still not recommended. It’s highly irresponsible and harmful to do this. We should still remain six feet apart and wear facial coverings. If we disobey these guidelines, all of this will be reversed and we’ll be right back where we started.

Things most likely won’t be as they were for a long time.

Traveling is still out of the question, so no packing your bags and taking a trip to the Keys, either. For the most part, we should try our best to stay home and only really go to places that we need to go to.  

Since the reopening, I have seen people blatantly disregarding all the health guidelines. Actually, if we are being honest, many people have been ignoring the rules since the beginning of quarantine. But, now all effort seems to have been thrown out the window. 

Whenever I go to the store to pick up some essentials, I see people ignoring the six feet apart rule and standing in each other’s spaces. I’ve also noticed my neighbors getting lots of visitors recently too. 

A second wave is the biggest concern for health officials. In Georgia, cases spiked after they reopened. This is because people were not respecting distance rules. A new spike of cases is something Floridians need to avoid if they don’t want to go back on lockdown and lose more lives in the process.

Immediately going crazy and acting like everything is back to normal when it is nowhere near done, is not going to make the virus go away. Phase one is just the first step. As much as we all want to feel safe again, we need to be realistic and think of other people’s health. It’s reckless to take this slow reopening as motivation to do what you want. 

The United States still has a long way to go in the fight against COVID-19. Things most likely won’t be as they were for a long time. Once we are in the clear, we can go out and feel secure in being with our friends. 

The plan to move to phase two is still blurry and we are taking things slowly. So enjoy this partial reopening but don’t throw caution into the wind. Otherwise, we’ll never get out of this mess. We gotta keep in mind that this is only the beginning of slowly easing into normalcy. 

Featured image by Andy Wright on Flickr.

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