A Florida sheriff held a parade where robots handed out candy, but was it really safe?

MELBOURNE, Fla. – Hundreds of cars lined up Wednesday to get into the second of four "drive-thru parades" put on this week by Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, waiting to see the big firetrucks, police cars and mobile command center.

A BCSO helicopter landed and took off again, delighting families in their vehicles with their windows down who chatted with deputies. Some held signs saying, "We support our law enforcement.”

As a deputy handed out BCSO logo stickers to children in cars, touching their hands before moving onto the next child's outstretched fingers, President Donald Trump’s voice drifted out of a radio, updating the nation on the mounting COVID-19 pandemic and the interventions to relieve New York's overwhelmed health systems.

At the end of the event, before a robot handed out candy, a beaming Ivey stood with his ever-present bloodhound sidekick, Junny, at his side.

"Thanks for coming out, boys," he told two young men in a car before asking kids in the next, "What was your favorite part?"

Ivey described the event as “coming together while staying apart,” a way to safely practice social distancing “together.”

It was a badly needed morale booster for many folks stuck at home because their work has been shuttered to try to slow the spread of the virus. It was a way to get out of the house and give the kids something to look at other than TV or video games.

But some questioned whether the event was really safe. Was it a good idea at this point in the health crisis to get groups of people out and together, even it if was in their cars?

Fire rescue staff and deputies stood shoulder to shoulder and clustered in groups, as did a chain gang of half a dozen inmates wearing striped jumpsuits, orange trucker hats and chains clanking around their ankles.

The BCSO's bomb squad robot's mechanical arm, wearing nitrile gloves secured with duct-tape sheathing its claws, handed out goody bags of candy, a crayon and a “Junny” activity book at the end of the parade. The gloved claw was not disinfected between bags.

"I applaud the sheriff for wanting to help lift the spirits in the community," said Dr. Marissa Levine, director of the Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice at the University of South Florida College of Public Health and former state health commissioner of Virginia. "But just remind them about the physical distancing part."

The robot's gloved claws and the deputies handing out stickers "are potential risk points," she said. Cleaning the gloves and using hand sanitizer between handing out stickers would have been a viable precaution, she said.

"We're saying 6 feet for good reason. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if it weren’t for that people can carry the virus and not have any symptoms and spread it," she said. Preliminary evidence shows the virus can survive on surfaces for as long as 72 hours.

"We do really have to help people’s social and emotional health," Levine said, emphasizing that it needs be done in a way that follows guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The event – "all of the candy and everything else," Ivey said in a media interview Tuesday – was funded by the Brevard Public Safety Charity, which is incorporated as the Brevard County Sheriff's Charity.

"Everyone had an awesome time while also practicing the 'social distancing' guidelines of the CDC," Ivey wrote on Facebook.

In comments on social media, people expressed a mix of praise and outrage. Concerned citizens questioned the appropriateness of throwing a parade during a pandemic or criticized the event as a self-serving publicity stunt.

In an interview Tuesday on Space Coast Daily TV, Ivey said, "With anything you do, there's going to be somebody who doesn't see it the same way, and my message to them is you're entitled to your opinion, but our agency right now is trying to do everything we can to let our community know we're in this with them."

In a statement, the Florida Department of Health reiterated its guidelines, bolding the word "suggest."

"The CDC and the Florida Department of Health suggest the cancellation of gatherings of more than 10 people and social distancing of more than 6 feet between individuals," the statement said.

"These guidelines are suggested to assist in slowing down the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It is up to individuals and communities to use their discretion when following these guidelines," the department said. "We would suggest also reaching out to the sheriff's office."

At few of Brevard's elected officials, though finding the sheriff's morale-lifting intentions admirable, questioned the appropriateness of the event.

“I think all elected officials should be encouraging folks to stay at home when they don’t otherwise need to be out,” said state Rep. Randy Fine. “If we have first responders who don’t need to be first responding, I would hope we would encourage them to be social distancing as well.

“I appreciate what’s trying to be done, but I don’t think we should be telling people out of one side of our mouths to stay at home if at all possible and out of the other side of our mouths: Come to a parade,” Fine said.

John Dittmore, deputy mayor of West Melbourne, said that despite the sheriff's "well-intentioned" effort to improve morale, he is concerned that the dozen or so cases confirmed by testing in the county provide an incomplete picture of contagion risk, especially considering the shortage of test kits, which led to strict rationing.

"I believe the number of cases is a lot higher than we originally thought, and given this information, I believe it would be more prudent for people to stay at home and only try to go out when absolutely necessary," he said.

"When people understand why these recommendations matter, they do a better job of following them. The one thing I reiterate: This isn’t about protecting yourself, it’s about protecting the entire community because what’s happening in New York City, where they’re on the verge of exceeding their hospital resources, that can happen in any community," Levine said. "Flattening the curve only happens if we all work together in a concerted effort."

The last of the parades was scheduled for Friday night in Palm Bay.

Follow Alessandro Marazzi on Twitter: @alemzs

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida held a drive-thru parade where a robot handed out candy