In The Villages, Florida, there are over 100,000 residents ages 55 and older. As a result, there should be heightened vigilance when it comes to social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID 19 due to the immense strain on the hospitals in another part of the world with a high density of 55+ people: Lombardy, Italy.

Most of The Villages events and activities have already been shut down. Regardless, the internet cafes, popular amongst The Villages residents remain open.

For the unfamiliar: internet cafes or as Wikipedia calls them, "Sweepstakes Parlors", are hugely popular in the three counties that The Villages exists in: Lake County, Marion County, and Sumter County. They are essentially legalized gambling on computers with slot machine-like interfaces.

Even if many of Villagers are being vigilant about being home, a good amount are still going to these internet cafes. The Washington Post had shared the astounding amount of activity just this week. Since then, The Villages has canceled many large gatherings, but this is not enough. These internet cafes tend to be crowded, with people sitting within 2-3 feet of each other. No attempt has been made to pressure these internet cafes to remain closed. While I can appreciate that many have made disinfectant wipes and Purell available, this is simply not enough.

Businesses that don't have social distancing in their own self interest will not do this on their own. It's time the Florida Governor and Florida Department of Health take action and shut down the internet cafes.