NEW YORK — A young man whose bold defiance of social distancing guidelines while on spring break in Miami drew widespread attention — “If I get corona; I get corona,” he declared in a television interview — apologised this week for his comments.

“I wasn’t aware of the severity of my actions and comments,” the man, Mr Brady Sluder, said on Instagram on Sunday (March 22). “I’d like to take this time to own up to the mistakes I've made and apologise to the people I’ve offended.”

Mr Sluder, who The Associated Press said is 22 and lives in Milford, Ohio, said in the post that he, like many people, has “elderly people who I adore more than anything in the world and other family members who are at risk”.

In a caption accompanying the post, Mr Sluder said he “can’t apologise enough” and that he wants to “use this as motivation to become a better person, a better son, a better friend, and a better citizen”.

“Life is precious,” he said. “Don’t be arrogant and think you’re invincible like myself.”

Efforts to reach Mr Sluder on Tuesday evening by phone and social media were not immediately successful.

Mr Sluder, whose widely shared television interview was seen as exemplifying a kind of reckless attitude that many across the country had displayed, was in Florida on spring break last week despite warnings and calls from government officials for the public to practice social distancing in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. During the television interview, he said the trip had been planned for about two or three months.

“At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me from partying,” Mr Sluder said in the 13-second clip. “We’re just out here having a good time. Whatever happens, happens.”

Tens of thousands of students flocked to South Florida and other warm-weather destinations for their spring break, ignoring calls from officials to help “flatten the curve” by practicing social distancing and staying at home.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis refused to shut down the state’s beaches last week, despite warnings from public health officials that there’s a unique risk of the coronavirus spreading in Florida, where 27 per cent of the population is over the age of 60, and several people have already died. 

Florida’s state parks, including beaches, finally closed on Monday. THE NEW YORK TIMES