Servers and tourists dance on top of tables at one restaurant along the Redneck Riviera, a popular stretch of town along the northern Gulf Coast. This is where bars, restaurants and shops are jam-packed. A hospital just a few miles away is short of critical care beds and its rooms are full of people who have not been vaccinated.
This part of the coast looks like it has been sunburnt on maps showing virus hot spots in red. A summer of boom tourism that was accompanied by travel restrictions and lockdowns in 2020 is now turning toward fall.
Officials believe that the sudden increase in cases is due to unabated tourist, low vaccination rates and a disregard for basic precautions. This all happens at a time when the virus is more contagious than ever, and conservative states are refusing to put new restrictions on their health.
One afternoon, a line of shoppers walked past a giant fake shark’s mouth to get into a Gulf Shores souvenir shop. There were many people in full-filling mini-golf, bars, gokart tracks and hotels. Despite the COVID-19 explosion, the National Shrimp Festival will be held in October.
“Cotton Eye Joe” was greeted enthusiastically by the unmasked customers at The Hangout restaurant.
“Where did your origins come from? Where did you go?” “Where did you come from, Cotton Eye Joe?” The speakers boomed.
According to Taylor Lewis, spokesperson, the revelry occurred just 12 miles (19 km) north of South Baldwin Regional Medical Center, which was treating nearly three dozen COVID-19-infected patients.
“After Memorial Day, it was, ‘Everything is back-to-normal, go to the shore, take off your mask’,” said Dr. Bert Eichold. He is the chief public health officer for Mobile County, which is just west of Gulf Shores. Mobile County has the highest number of new cases and its COVID-19 positivity has risen to almost 30%.
Lisa Hastings, a Louisiana nurse and native, was visiting the Alabama coast along with her sisters. She saw the situation from two perspectives. Although she was uneasy about the scene from a professional perspective, she doesn’t think it is unfair to anyone who wants fun and gets out of their routines, even if they are vaccinated.
Hastings, who has been vaccinated, said that “I think people have kind of overbeared and so they’ve just got to live their life.” A tourist from Illinois complained that the pandemic was fake and that vaccinations were just another form of government control.
Some people have chosen to not get vaccinated or wear face masks and instead party at Flora-Bama on the Alabama-Florida border. The place is a popular coastal spot where bands perform to large audiences.
Lulu’s Gulf Shores restaurant, owned by Lucy Buffett (sister of Jimmy Buffett), was recently forced to close for a week due to the virus that was ravaging workers.
Justin Smith, the manager of The Dock, a Pensacola Beach restaurant that serves cold beer, seafood, and other beverages, said that while the tourist season has been hectic, his staff has managed to remain healthy. Smith stated that he would not require his staff members to be immunized for more vaccines.
“I’ve been here for 18 years. He said, “It’s not going to happen.”
The coronavirus is threatening to overthrow the region’s traditional health care system. Panama City Beach, Florida cancelled an annual country music festival scheduled for September. New Orleans has taken steps to curb mask-wearing, and multiple events have been cancelled.
Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis, Alabama Governor. Kay Ivey has resisted the imposition of new restrictions, even though hospital beds are filling up. Officials said Monday that 1,560 patients required intensive care in Alabama, which has only 1,562 ICU beds.
Last week, Pensacola hospital executives gathered to call for more vaccines. They also dispelled false rumors and misinformation about vaccines. Mayor Grover C. Robinson IV appealed to churchgoers for shots in an area that is dominated by Christian conservatives.
He said, “Two hospitals in our area are Christian-affiliated.” “Do not be afraid, that is one of the first things the Bible says throughout its pages.”
Although more people are receiving their initial vaccine doses now than they were a few weeks ago it is not enough to stop the spread COVID-19. Statistics show that Okaloosa County, Florida, is the most vaccinated of all 11 counties along the Florida coast. It has 41.3%. Many of these are less than one-third and are all below the 51% national average.
Natalie Fox, a USA Health Mobile nursing executive, stated that medical workers feel tired after fighting the pandemic for more than a decade. People with COVID-19, the vast majority of whom are unvaccinated, continue to arrive.
She said, “We’re sort of getting patients all over because everyone’s dealing with increased strain.”
Rhonda Landrum (50-year-old mobile health worker) was given a mandate to get the vaccine after seeing her three unvaccinated daughters succumb to COVID-19. She said that people aren’t taking the pandemic serious and that it’s not safe for them to go out in the public without the vaccine.
She said, “I won’t go anywhere.” “I stay at home.”
