COVIDIOTS is the new term for those who will not heed the call to quarantine

The spreading virus seems to be bringing out the worst in some people who feel that the real tragedy is a loss of bars and beaches being open during spring break.

The term COVIDIOTS, which can now be found in the Urban Dictionary, defines a COVIDIOT as "someone who ignores the warnings regarding public health or safety," or "a person who hoards goods, denying them from their neighbours,"

People have taken to social media to post photos or videos of people behaving like COVIDIOTS in an attempt to change the social mores surrounding this global-wide pandemic. Recorded acts of COVIDIOTS have been anything from continuing to gather in large groups to buying ridiculous amounts of toilet paper, and have been shared across the web. Essentially, anybody who is using the outbreak to their advantage is a COVIDIOT.

Thousands of American students travelled to Miami for their spring break holiday despite official orders shutting down many of the week's festivities, garnering them the term COVIDIOTS.

“If I get corona, I get corona,” said spring breaker Brady Sluder last week in an interview with CBS News. “I’m not going to let it stop me from partying.”

The virus is transmitted by water droplets expelled when a person talks or exhales, and these droplets can easily pass to others in a large crowd, according to health experts.

Five students have already tested positive for the virus at the University of Tampa. The students were “travelling together and with other UT students on spring break,” the school said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned young people last Friday that they too can be affected severely as a consequence from contracting the COVID-19 contagion.

“This virus could put you in hospital for weeks or even kill you,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO at a press conference. “You are not invincible.”

Any international travel goes against WHO recommendations, restrictions by many country's executive orders including Canada and the US, and Canadian politicians are asking that even regional travel be limited if possible.

Coronavirus symptoms are similar to that of a cold or flu such as fever, cough and difficulty breathing. However, in certain cases people can develop more severe illnesses and respiratory distress. Senior citizens and those with prior health complications like heart, lung or kidney disease are most at risk.

Experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve as an attainable means for individulals to prevent further spreading.