Miami-Dade is the epicenter of Coronavirus cases. Luckily, this man from Walton County is doing his part to convince people to at least stay six feet apart.
Walton County resident Daniel Uhlfelder went to Miramar Beach dressed as the grim reaper to protest the lifting of social distance restrictions on Friday.
Beaches in Walton, Okaloosa, and in the city of Destin reopened to the public for the first time in a month on May 1 despite data that shows Miami-Dade County continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Florida.
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“I’m here today to make the point that I think it’s premature for us to reopen our beaches,” Uhlfelder said to News 13.
He said that he is a big supporter of public beaches but is concerned that reopening them could be premature and increase the number of COVID-19 cases in the state.
“I think there’s danger in bringing all the people here to our area and spreading the virus,” Uhlfelder said. “I think it’s going to prolong the recovery we have and I think we should take better measures because [reopening the beaches] is drawing people from all over the world. I think it’s too soon and I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
Although the state is seeing a plateau in the number of new cases it still ranks near the top of total coronavirus patients between states. At the time of this writing Florida has had a total of 33,690 coronavirus cases and over 1,000 deaths.
Elle Meyers Elle Meyers is a Congressional Reporter for COURIER where she covers national politics and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Previously Elle was a beat reporter in Montgomery County, Maryland and she is a native of Portland.
