A 21-year-old Nashville, Tennessee, woman who bragged on social media she was ignoring social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus outbreak has been infected with the disease, according to local media.
Ireland Tate was diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, on March 19, two days after she posted to Instagram that she did not believe she was vulnerable to contracting the flu-like illness, Nashville Fox affiliate WZTV reported.
“So, I’m aware that we’re supposed to be self-quarantining and social distancing all these things to keep everyone safe,” she said in a video. “Cool. I get it. I just don’t think that I’m going to get the virus.”
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Just days later, Tate revealed she’d tested positive for the illness and was suffering from severe symptoms.
https://twitter.com/silkyraisin101/status/1244164374006075392?s=20
“ I’m in isolated quarantine for 14 days starting today,” she said in a social media post. “I’m not doing great, but now I have time to watch every single [Bussin’ With The Boys] episode on YouTube [trying to see the bright side here].”
“It feels like there’s someone sitting on my chest at all times, it’s really hard to breathe. I’ve coughed until my throat has bled.”
She also had a seemingly changed perspective with regard to observing the guidelines.
“While it may not be affecting you, it could be affecting someone’s grandma or grandpa, or aunt or uncle, or mom or sister,” she said.
Tate isn’t the only youth to ignore authorities’ recommendations about how best to mitigate the risk of catching coronavirus.
Spring breakers – especially in Florida – openly flouting social distancing guidelines made headlines last month.
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In a video that received widespread attention, one college student vacationing in Miami boasted: “If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me from partying. I’ve been waiting, we’ve been waiting for Miami spring break for a while. About two months we’ve had this trip planned, two, three months, and we’re just out here having a good time.”
“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not gonna let it stop me from partying”: Spring breakers are still flocking to Miami, despite coronavirus warnings. https://t.co/KoYKI8zNDH pic.twitter.com/rfPfea1LrC
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 18, 2020
Meanwhile, 28 students from the University of Texas at Austin, who were among a group of 70 that chartered a plane to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico for spring break, tested positive for coronavirus upon their return.