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Miami Beach: police control
Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP
Due to the continued strong rush of celebrating visitors in the midst of the corona pandemic, the Miami Beach authorities have extended the declared emergency as a precaution.
If necessary, it will now apply until the end of the semester break in mid-April, as a spokeswoman for the city announced on Monday.
Miami Beach in the US state of Florida attracts numerous students from all over the country every year during the spring break.
Despite the corona pandemic, many young people came again to celebrate wild parties in the beach metropolis.
"There are really too many who come without the intention of obeying the rules"
Mayor Dan Gelber
Mayor Dan Gelber spoke of significantly more celebrations than in previous years.
He suspected that many other tourists were drawn to Miami Beach because few other places were also open.
“There really are too many who come without any intention of obeying the rules.
And the result is a level of chaos and disorder that we just can't take anymore, ”Gelber said, according to CNN.
After several riots at parties, the authorities imposed a night curfew on the city's main party districts on Saturday.
At the same time, the three bridges to the mainland are also closed.
Exceptions only apply to residents, commuters and hotel guests.
Raul Aguila of the city administration justified the curfew with concerns about public safety.
Looking at photos of the huge crowds on Ocean Drive, he said, “It looked like a rock concert.
You couldn't see the sidewalk or the grass. "
But the authorities are struggling to enforce the measures.
At the weekend there were arguments and long queues formed in front of the bridges.
There have been around a thousand arrests since spring break began.
The head of the US health authority CDC, Rochelle Walensky, was meanwhile alarmed by the currently large number of flights to the "spring break".
Despite the high vaccination rate, it was still too early to travel, she said on Monday.
She worries that the number of infections will rise again as a result.
On Sunday, 1.5 million passengers had checked in at US airports, the highest number since March 15, 2020.
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