MONTREAL -- At this time of the year many Canadians are preparing vacations, and perhaps the most attractive destinations are the beaches of Florida. Southern Florida is especially popular with our snowbirds seeking to escape the harsh winter weather in many parts of the county.

This year, however, the pandemic saw many vacation plans cancelled -- according to the Canadian Snowbird Association, upwards of 70 per cent of the roughly 500,000 that typically make their way south instead chose to stay put in 2020.

Making the presumed sacrifice of cancelling this year’s trip to Florida is a wise decision. The weather may be a lot better down there, but the COVID-19 situation in the sunshine state is not very bright.

During the week of December 14th, Florida reported about 10,727 cases and 102 deaths per day, bringing the overall death toll from the virus to 20,690. According to the Florida Department of Health, since the month of March, the state has recorded more than 1.1 million COVID-19 cases.

It’s true that the population of Florida (21.5 million) is two-and-a-half times bigger than Quebec’s population of 8 million. However, the state's number of confirmed cases is six times greater than Quebec's -- as of Friday, December 18th, Quebec had a total 176,985 confirmed cases.

For the week of December 14th, Florida had three-and-a-half times more daily deaths from COVID-19 than did Quebec, which averaged 29 deaths per day. And in terms of the positivity rate -- the ratio of confirmed cases to the number of tests -- for the week of December 14th, Florida’s rate was approximately 8.7 percent while the rate for Quebec was 4.9 percent.

Some of those Canadians that did make the trip to Florida seem astonished to discover that so many others did not do the same. As one snowbird put it, “a lot stayed home. I guess they ran scared.”

The reality is that those who resisted the temptation had good reason to do so. Apart from the data on COVID-19 in Florida, what has been equally disconcerting is the response to the crisis from the state's governor, Ron DeSantis.

In effect, he has been widely accused of downplaying the severity of the pandemic as it escalated across Florida. DeSantis continues to reject mask orders, limits on indoor dining and penalties for establishments that allow people to gather closely.

Thankfully, our political leaders have been considerably more vigilant. Yesterday, CTV reported that the Ford government would likely put all of Ontario under lockdown later this week. Premier François Legault has also called for an 18-day provincewide lockdown beginning on Christmas Day, with non-essential businesses closing across the province from Dec. 25 through Jan. 11.

A mid-December poll by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies survey revealed that nearly two in three Canadians support provincial lockdowns for the holiday season and understand the importance of doing so if we wish to tackle the pandemic.

It’s true that there is an obvious contradiction: the Canadian government is enforcing border closings that are designed to prevent non-essential travel to the United States, but it's allowing a fair bit of non-essential travel to take place by air. In other words, it’s okay to fly to Florida from a local airport, but it’s not all right to drive there.

The reasoning behind this discrepancy has long needed an explanation from our politicians. Now, it makes even less sense with our provincial governments about to enact holiday lockdowns and urging us to avoid doing things that are non-essential. 

In the meantime, for those snowbirds still contemplating an escape to Florida, be sure to make an informed decision by checking into the COVID situation at your destination. In the end, you may come to the conclusion that at this juncture it’s far better to stay put.

Jack Jedwab is President of the Association for Canadian Studies