#Mississippi #Idaho #Miami #Masks #Party #SpringBreak

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.

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.'