Maskless revelers take to the streets in Mississippi after mask mandate is lifted

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Hundred of people took to the streets of Mississippi without a mask in sight on Friday night after the state lifted their COVID 19 restrictions on March 3.

Oxford, home of Ole Miss, saw people out in full force, eating at restaurants and shopping at stores like the coronavirus pandemic was a distant memory – rather than a virus that has killed more than half a million people and infects tens of thousands on a daily basis.

In Florida, Spring Breakers were also abandoning masks as bikini-clad college students flooded onto beaches and crammed into bars in Miami and Fort Lauderdale to kick of their vacation. 

And in Idaho, a group gathered to burn their masks outside of the statehouse in protest of COVID-19 restrictions after other states this week made the decision to ditch mandates and open back up.  

A group of children joined their parents, several of whom were armed, as they burned pictures of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi in the flames, before beging egged into disposing of their surgical masks into the fire.  

Joe Biden slammed Mississippi and Texas‘ decisions to reopen as ‘Neanderthal thinking’ on Wednesday, warning that big, maskless gatherings would lead to another surge in coronavirus cases and deaths. 

Texas is the largest state to lift their mask mandate, despite the fact that over 42,000 in Texas have died of COVID-19.

However, the president has since been criticized for his comment by conservatives including Montana governor Greg Gianforte who complained Biden was ‘degrading’ himself with ‘name-calling.’   

Meanwhile, revelers across Mississippi seemed unconcerned by the threat of another COVID-19 surge as they packed into busy bars and clubs for the first time in months.

Many people even went shopping without masks, scenes most of the country would view as foreign a year after the pandemic began. 

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In total, there have been at least 296,000 COVID-19 cases and 6,783 deaths in Mississippi since the onset of the pandemic.

On Friday, Mississippi reported 576 new cases and 22 new deaths.

Mississippi will maintain their 50 percent capacity restriction on indoor arenas and keep their current rules in place for K-12 schools.  

Elsewhere in Idaho, protests against mask mandates were held across the state on Saturday as angered residents push back against the continuing restrictions. 

At least a hundred people gathered at the front of the Idaho Capitol to burn masks in a protest against measures taken to limit infections and deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic.  

Videos posted on social media showed adults encouraging children to toss masks into a fire. Some of the masks were branded with criticism of Biden while one person was seen burning a picture of the president himself. 

One video, which has been viewed more than 2.6million times, showed one adult shouting ‘all at once’ at the children before more started cheering and dozens of masks were thrown into the fire. 

‘Destroy them,’ another person said. 

The children were heard saying ‘Feed them to the fire’ and ‘We don’t want them in our lives’. 

‘I will not self-suffocate,’ signs at the protest read. 

‘No masks, no mandates. Our face, our mind,’ said another, while one quoted Benjamin Franklin stating: ‘Those who give up liberty to purchase safety deserve neither liberty or safety.’

‘We’re standing here today to rein back government. To reestablish our Republican form of government, a government that has balance between the branches,’ said Daar Moon, a protest organizer, in a Twitter video. ‘It’s a widespread grassroots movement, an uprising in that regard, it’s come off very well today here in Boise.’

At least three lawmakers from the state legislature and the Lt. Gov Janice McGeachin were there to cheer the crowds on. 

At one point the group was asked by police to put out the fire as it was not allowed on state grounds but the protesters told the cops to leave.  

“During the event, an open flame was ignited in a barrel,’ a police spokesperson told Business Insider. 

“Those involved with the event were informed both before and during the event that open flames are not allowed on State Capitol grounds. The incident is under review.’ 

Republican Gov. Brad Little has never issued a statewide mask mandate, but seven counties and 11 cities have such mandates in place.

Visitors to the Capitol are asked to wear masks, but they’re not required and few Republican lawmakers wear them. 

A Republican lawmaker on Wednesday introduced legislation to prohibit mask mandates.

More than 170,000 Idaho residents have been infected with the virus, and nearly 1,900 have died.

In Florida, where a mask mandate continues, officials continued to try to enforce extra restrictions as the first weekend of Spring Break started off, but it wasn’t enough to stop hoardes of skantily clad college students from abandoning their face coverings to party in vacation hotspots such as Miami in Fort Lauderdale. 

The first of the partygoers kicked off the month of festivities on Friday night and raged over to Saturday afternoon, with beach hotspots crowded with young maskless groups. 

One beach bar, The Wharf, had banned out of state residents who are under 23 years old for the month of March in an effort to curb rowdy behaviour but others welcomed in the swathes of Spring Breakers. 

The city has installed steel barriers between bars in an effort to force the college students to maintain sociaol distancing while Miami Beach is enforcing a midnight curfew and clamping down on alcohol and boom boxes on the beach. 

Some Spring Breakers were already looking worse for wear by Saturday with Miami Beach fire rescue officers forced to come to the aid of a woman who had fainted by the afternoon. 

 

Montana has also rescinded their mask mandate via a directive issued on February 12, while simultaneously encouraging residents to continue wearing masks and making responsible decisions.

Gov. Gianforte argued on Fox & Friends that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ mandate doesn’t make sense, which is likely why he repealed it for his state.

Cases have been declining in Montana, with just 143 new cases reported on Friday. Hospitalizations are also low in the state, with just 63 people actively hospitalized headed into the weekend.

Biden had pleaded with states to keep restrictions until America could achieve heard immunity.

‘I hope everybody’s realized by now these masks make a difference,’ Biden said. 

‘We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way we’re able to get vaccines in people’s arms.

‘The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime everything’s fine, take off your mask, forget it.’

Earlier this week, Gov. Gianforte tweeted in response to Biden, saying ‘If making data-driven decisions to reopen, loving freedom, and trying to get back to normal is what a Neanderthal would do, then well, I guess you can count me as one.’ 

During his interview with Doocy, Gov. Gianforte expressed his excitement about the direction of his state: ‘Montana is open for business, we’re getting back to normal.’

He admitted, however, that the state is ‘not out of the woods yet.’

In total, Montana has had 100,842 cases of COVID-19, with 1,381 people dying from the virus.

Over 300,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Montana so far, with 112,111 people fully immunized.

Gov. Gianforte is far from the first Republican politician to call out Biden for his ‘Neanderthal’ comment.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called Biden a ‘hypocrite’ in an interview with Fox News on Thursday.

Fox News reports Florida Sen. Marco Rubio suggested Biden ‘seek training on the unconscious bias.’

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden only made his comments out of ‘frustration and exasperation.’

Signs of progress in the fight against COVID-19 are evident, especially with a third vaccine being distributed across the nation.

The easing of pandemic restrictions and mask mandates could have a negative effect on the progress, though. 

In the United States, there have been 28,890,034 cases and 522,761 COVID-19 deaths.