Picture by Scoot Pasmore.
Authorities in central Missouri state reacted strongly on Monday after a viral video of hundreds of people partying in a swimming pool was released, disregarding social distancing in the midst of a pandemic.
Participants who got too close to each other were instructed to go into voluntary isolation for 14 days or until they tested negative for coronavirus.
The video that jumped the health authorities of the county of Saint-Louis shows hundreds of revelers in swimsuits and neck-to-neck, drinking cocktails under the sun in the pool of a bar by the lake of the Ozarks .
The sequence published on Saturday on Twitter has been viewed 18 million times.
No covid concerns at the lake of the ozarks😳 #loto pic.twitter.com/Yrb4UNM64u
— Scott Pasmore (@scottpasmoretv) May 24, 2020
"This irresponsible behavior puts many people at risk and risks seriously undermining the progress we have made to slow the spread of Covid-19," said Saint Louis County chief Sam Page.
The state of Missouri lifted part of the restrictions on gatherings and bars and restaurants on May 4.
This Midwestern state is among the US states least affected by the new coronavirus, with some 12,167 cases and 685 deaths, according to state figures. Miller County, where the video was filmed, has only recorded four cases.
But concern is high in the United States, where deconfinement has started in the 50 states, but where the virus remains active in several regions.
During the long weekend that included Memorial Day holiday Monday, traditionally marking the start of summer in the United States, thousands of Americans went to the beaches, often respecting physical distancing, with or without masks.
Donald Trump himself played golf for the first time in more than two months, immediately drawing criticism.
The United States is approaching 100,000 deaths from the new coronavirus, which has infected more than 1.7 million Americans in total, according to the Johns Hopkins University count.