Coronavirus: Hundreds ignore social distancing at wild US party

Partygoers are copping it on social media after footage showed hundreds of revellers dancing, swimming and drinking despite the pandemic.

Hundreds of people have completely ignored social distancing rules in favour of partying at a tourist hotspot in the US, with the venue and partygoers copping major backlash online.

Pictures and videos taken this Saturday at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri showed dozens of boats cruising through the water while crowds celebrated the warm weather by dancing, swimming and drinking.

Each year people flock to the area for the Memorial Day weekend and this year was no different, despite the ongoing pandemic.

Videos from the wild party show hundreds of people swimming together in a pool and standing around celebrating.

No one in the footage appears to be concerned about keeping an adequate amount of space between themselves and others.

Photos shared to Twitter by Colin Jeffery from KSDK News show crowds of people packed around a pool, completely ignoring a huge sign asking visitors to remain 6ft apart and practice social distancing.

Mr Jeffrey said when he questioned Camden County Sheriff’s Department about the gathering he was informed orders allowing police to enforce social distancing were no longer in place.

“The health regulations and orders from the commission expired when the state opened back up. Of course the state has social distancing guidelines but it doesn’t seem everyone is following it very well here,” the department said.

Partygoers completely ignored the sign telling people to practice social distancing. Picture: Collin Jeffery/Twitter

The party took place on Memorial Day weekend. Picture: Collin Jeffery/Twitter

This comes after Missouri Governor Mike Parson partially reopened the state and allowed businesses and other restaurants to open their doors.

However, it appears the direction that “every person and business in the State of Missouri shall abide by social distancing requirements” didn’t get through to some people.

Videos and pictures of the wild party quickly started to spread around social media and by Sunday morning “Lake of the Ozarks” was trending on Twitter.

Social media users expressed their disappointment at the scenes, lashing partygoers and the venue for ignoring health and safety.

I don’t think health care workers, who have been risking their lives & working burnout hours for 3 months, should have to treat these pompous dumbasses who flocked (irony🐑)to Ocean City and Lake of the Ozarks this weekend. Never ceases to amaze me how selfish Americans can be pic.twitter.com/4j9uww0Itd

— Rebecca Stewart (@BeckyStewart13) May 24, 2020

Current US death toll: 97,414

Incubation period: 2-14 days

Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri - today 👇#COVIDー19

pic.twitter.com/3Kn8U4g8Gv

— Tom Folan, MD (@tomfolanmd) May 24, 2020

My wife and I are agonizing over whether we can go to a very good friend’s birthday dinner at another friend’s restaurant on Friday where they are not open to patrons for seated meals and we are guaranteed to have table distancing. Meanwhile at Lake of the Ozarks: pic.twitter.com/tUm0B38AAi

— Drew VanderPloeg (@alvanderp) May 23, 2020

There are more than 1.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the US, with the death toll surpassing 96,000.

Despite having the highest death toll in the world, President Donald Trump has aggressively pushed for the economy to reopen, defying the advice of health experts.

He sent a signal of his intentions by playing golf Saturday – his first round since March 8.

The New York Times marked the grim US toll on Sunday with a memorial on its front page carrying one-line obituaries for 1,000 victims.

The US economy has shed almost 40 million jobs this year and many companies have gone to the wall. But most states have begun easing their lockdowns and many reopened public beaches.

With AP