Super Bowl partiers defy Fauci in Ybor City

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been the public face of the United States' coronavirus response, warned football fans last week to avoid throwing parties to celebrate the annual American sporting tradition in order to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

"You don't want parties with people that you haven't had much contact with," Fauci said on Wednesday. "You just don't know if they're infected, so as difficult as that is, at least this time around, just lay low and cool it."

Football fans in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, where the game is to be held, have chosen to disregard Fauci's advice, crowding the streets to celebrate the NFL championship.

Seventh Avenue in Tampa has hosted a number of outdoor celebrations since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, taking advantage of Florida's lax coronavirus restrictions. However, this gathering was reported to have been significantly larger than any other crowd seen in the area during the pandemic.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been a steadfast opponent of coronavirus lockdowns, refusing to shutter businesses or to place caps on gathering sizes.

Despite Florida's relaxed reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, Florida's infection and mortality rates have remained on par with the rest of the country, where coronavirus-related restrictions are often severe.

Fauci has long warned against hosting gatherings both public and private to hinder the spread of coronavirus, but his advice has been undermined by double standards. While Fauci repeatedly made staunch warnings against hosting family gatherings over Thanksgiving and Christmas, and less stern warnings for the Super Bowl, he has failed to give similar advice to protesters supporting causes promoted by Democrats.

For example, during the Black Lives Matter riots which took place last summer, instead of warning against attending rallies to prevent the spread of the virus, Fauci suggested that protesters must strike "a delicate balance because the reasons for demonstrating are valid, but the demonstration puts one at additional risk."

New daily cases of coronavirus in the United States nearly quadrupled within two months of the beginning of protests, even as cases declined during the summer in most other western nations.

Fauci also said nothing as public celebrations erupted across American cities in November, as opponents of then-President Donald Trump reveled in the election victory of Joe Biden.

In Florida, it seems that the citizenry has been left unconvinced by the double standards promoted by health experts across the United States. For them, there is no sense to a virus response which allows for political riots while demanding the suppression of American family traditions.

It should therefore come as no surprise that Floridians are choosing to ignore such rules to celebrate the Super Bowl.