Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson in Florida believed that gang members were holding street parties to intentionally spread the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). 

People in Concert
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Gibson alleged that gang members are organizing parties to spread COVID-19 among themselves. He said Osceola residents are now afraid.

According to Gibson, they have already received more than 600 noise complaints since March. He noted that one of these gatherings were attended by more than 400 people, according to a published article in Daily Mail.

Gibson said these gang members are coming from central Florida and rented multiple vacation homes in the area, focusing on three gated housing developments.

The Osceola County Sheriff's Office Department has released a video of one of the parties. The video showed cars blocking the roadway and a large group of people gathered to dance and party. The video was taken early this month.

They also released a footage that shown many cars blocking the intersection that happened in May. The party was broken up when the cops arrived. The sheriff said locals in Osceola County are now living a life of terror.

Gibson firmly believed that those who attended the parties were trying to mingle with each other to spread the coronavirus. The sheriff added that what the county experiencing now would result in sudden spike of COVID-19 infections. 

"They're being referred to, from what I'm being told, as COVID-19 parties where they're actually getting together and they're trying to mingle to potentially spread the virus amongst each other if they're asymptomatic or whatever the case might be," Gibson said.

Gibson noted that while those who attend the parties may not be at risk if they contract COVID-19, they could spread it to someone. They may pose a risk to others by spreading the virus. The county has recently experienced a tremendous spike in COVID-19 infections. 

Gibson stressed that virus transmission is possible between the party attendees and their families. The sheriff explained that they may get infected and bring the virus home and then possibly infecting their parents or the elderlies.

Meanwhile, there have been a series of arrests and shootings that are related to the gang members' parties. In April, a man was arrested following a shooting incident in one of the gatherings. The 20-year-old man was identified as Demetrius Cox.

According to Gibson, cops have bee able to disperse some of the parties. However, in most cases, fireworks have been thrown to the police officers to push them back. He also said that they recovered a gun in one of the parties. 

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