At no other time do national headlines need a simple photo of teenagers pretending to be licking each other’s faces.
But a Facebook post on November 7 – in which three glamorous deadly girls kissing adult boys wearing crowns, smiles and red roses. It symbolizes the devastating division between Americans in the midst of an epidemic.
On the same day, 1,007 Americans died of the virus that wreaked havoc in the country, with parents sending their children to a large indoor event with sachets and sequins.
Parents planning to do a massive homecoming dance Rolla, Missouri And McDonald’s, Georgia After the Daily Beast reported their events on social media and national news sites, those parties were no longer literalists.
In fact, that’s exactly what parents across the country are doing.
The photo was taken from Barnesville, Ohio, of teenagers pretending to be licking each other in a sunny white gazebo. Wendy Corbyn Stephen, 55, told the Daily Beast in a Facebook message that she and her grandson had gone to the Barnesville High School for indoor dancing with about a hundred other Canasians and that she was “happy to be able to attend.” The dance was the subject of a “footloose”, a social media post from a Twitter account that appears to have been created for the event, that tickets cost $ 10 and that event planners must sign off on parents’ writing off.
An evening of dancing, teen crowns and homicidal court sash. According to Instagram photos captioned “Senior Hoko”, dozens of classmates wore bouquets and corsages. Then they parted inside the house, sweating and singing along to the music, as well as confetti on the floor. None of the mothers who shared their children’s Facebook photos and posed at the Barnesville dance responded to comments on the Daily Beast seeking text, Twitter DM, Facebook Messenger or any other comment or inspiration.
On November 7, a tweet tweeted, “Everybody cuts the foothills,” along with a photo of teens dancing under flashing lights. Neither the school district administrators nor the school principal responded to multiple requests for comments this week, but the school went into distance learning after the event. The Belmont County Department of Health did not respond to multiple inquiries.
Belmont County, with a population of 68,472, has 1,987 confirmed cases as of Friday. According to the Johns Hopkins University Corona Virus Resource Center. Ohio Department of Health On Friday alone, 10,114 new cases were reported, The fourth most common daily infection since the onset of pandemic.
An agent at the state’s COVID-19 hotline said on November 7 that private indoor gatherings are limited to ten or fewer people. The Daily Beast could not independently confirm on Friday that the apparent Twitter account of the Football event indicated that it had taken place at a student’s home.
These parties are now a feature of life in America, not a bug.
Take, for example, a program in Spokane, Washington, about 50 teen martyrs Participated in a private homecoming dance November 21 inside a church. Or a week ago, in Plum, Pennsylvania, at least 150 students were asked to stay home from school because the students tested positive for COVID-19. The cases are related to the dance performed by the parents on November 14, where masks are not required and social distance is not maintained. Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
“This level of neglect [the] The public health of our community makes me totally angry, frustrated and frustrated, ”said Dr. Mohd. Debra Bogan Told the local CBS affiliate. The spread of the virus is the result of a complete deliberate disregard for state public health measures.
In Bridgeport, West Virginia, the governor’s executive order limits indoor gatherings to 25 – public health officials and a local superintendent said. WVNews.com On Tuesday, at least one positive case of the virus was linked to a homecoming dance for students “between 100 and 200” this week, with one parent reportedly throwing up and booking the venue for a “vow renewal”.
The state’s capacity limits do not apply to marriages, and public health officials said they expect more cases to follow, which they are already seeing as “incredible community outreach” in a country, the news site said.
In Slidell, Louisiana, Reagan Abney’s mother told the Daily Beast that a private, do-it-yourself homecoming dinner was completed with CO COVID-19 security precautions – about 20 cans at her home so she could dress and take pictures. as well as The danger of broadcasting a real dance is as if their classmates were involved.
“The school does not allow any kind of dance,” Abney said. “There were other parents on the slide who did an event, but I did not allow my children to attend because of the size of the crowd. Looks like there are over a hundred people out there from the pictures. ”
“We were trying to give them some memories, but it was not an event,” she added. “It was a small gathering in my house.” The Daily Beast could not independently confirm that another dance had taken place on the slide, and Abney did not respond to follow-up questions from the Daily Beast.
The Rola dance in Missouri, which took place on November 7 at the Steakhouse house, was also parent-organized. It involved 200 students and led to a flurry of COVID-19 cases, with parents who danced and struggled to contact the local health department because they did not keep a list of students who attended.
Organizers deliberately withheld attendees’ numbers and identities to avoid contact tracing. Ashley Van, Director of Health, Phelps-Marys County Department of Health.
“I sometimes wonder if children pay as much attention to these dances as their parents do”
– School employee
A week later in McDonough, Georgia Parents throw a dance for 250 Ola high school students. Hayla Folden, a spokeswoman for District 4 Public Health in Henry County, Georgia, told the Daily Beast that her team has not yet been charged with the incident, but that her department is having a hard time answering Kovid’s positive staff. Call, respond to questions, or participate in contact tracing for the past few months. That means she can’t conclude that dancing doesn’t end in a case, she told the Daily Beast.
“I sometimes wonder if children pay as much attention to these dances as their parents do, or if this is a further photo opportunity and a chance for parents to live badly with their children,” an official at one of the listed schools said above, asking them to remain anonymous for fear of being expelled for speaking to the media about COVID-19.
“Schools work hard to ensure that the school takes all possible steps to prevent the spread of the virus, and then parents take it upon themselves to hold these super-spreader events and undo all of those positive activities,” she continued. “This was not innocent oversight; Ignoring public health advice was a naked decision. ”
“I am disgusted and convinced that this is the cause of what is happening in our community,” the employee added.
The glimmer of hope? The end of the homecoming season had the potential to put an end to these glittering celebrations and their viral transmission. Unfortunately, things do not seem to be promising.
According to two Ola High School students who were interviewed by the Daily Beast last week, students from neighboring schools in Henry County County have been able to see how they throw parties in the coming weeks, calling students “winter balls.”
Then, this week, a senior student at Ola High School asked to remain anonymous for fear of intimidation and retaliation from classmates – an invitation to a snapchat for a winter formality for students at Locust Grove High School and a screenshot of the Daily Beast’s jurisdiction. Tickets for the January 23 event are $ 25 to $ 35 and can be sent to the Wenmo account @ WINTERFORMAL2021. When the Daily Beast checked the account on Friday, several transactions had already been recorded on labels such as “Locust Grove Dance” and “Tickets”.
JD Hardin, executive director of communications at the Henry County School District, confirmed last week that the district knows about Ola High School dance, but did not make more than one request this week to comment on the plans for Locust Grove High School about the winter formality. Students, although the school is in the same district.
“Most people in my school do not believe that COVID is a real thing. It’s better not to talk, ”said Ola, a senior student. “I was confused. Given exactly what is happening at home, why should we vote for the returning king and queen?”
The senior said he feels isolated in focusing on how his activities affect the family and the community, while other children are still learning from home while throwing parties and attending face-to-face meetings. COVID-19 threatens and intimidates when talking about security.
The students who went to the dance asked, “Why do you care what we do?” It was like, but I went back to school after attending a big indoor event where the virus could spread in violation of public health guidelines. To others.
“I wear my mask every time I go out, go to Walmart,” she said. “Everyone is unmasked and they see you as crazy. Especially after homecoming, I felt like it was bad. They sent another email saying that another student on campus had received COVID. ”
Folden said her team would “fight with weapons today” to prevent formalities from advancing with the few tools they have, but they are limited in the kind of enforcement her department can do.
She sighed after the Daily Beast sent out an invitation to her winter routine. “When we see things like this, it feels like we are spitting in the wind.”
In response to questions from the Daily Beast about whether anyone in Kandy would try to block the event, Henry County Board of Health Chair Anthony Ford said, “We will always encourage citizens to be safe for others and to care about others. Public domain. He said he did not know about the winter formalities until the Daily Beast submitted the invitation and Venmo handed over.
On the other hand, Folden said, “It is disturbing to think that people want to get together, especially in large groups like that, where small groups are now causing the corona virus to spread rapidly. “It’s very frustrating.”
Public health and health workers are now working hard to slow the spread of the corona virus and prepare vaccinations in the coming weeks, and we are tired of how long we have been doing this and how hard we have worked. Folden said his own daughter is in high school and is frustrated with everything she has lost.
“But when the kids go to parties and they go and do other things, we take the time to explain that one can get hundreds of infections.”
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