MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – First responders can attest to how severe the COVID-19 pandemic truly is.

A group of them wrote a letter to the residents of South Florida in hopes of further educating them on the coronavirus outbreak.

A letter to those who’ve been out on their boats, those partying with their friends and those out enjoying the weather, instead of staying home to prevent spreading the virus.

The warning in the letter, signed by emergency room doctors, physician assistants and nurses treating patients from across Miami Dade County, witnessing firsthand the impacts of this pandemic.

It reads, in part:

“If people need to personally experience COVID-19 by having a loved one or close friend infected in order to take this crisis seriously, then it will be too late and we will suffer the full brunt of this epidemic.”

“A frighteningly rapid increase in the number of people with severe and life-threatening respiratory illnesses.”

It adds: “If and when COVID-19 testing reaches the appropriate levels, the number of confirmed cases will explode."

And stressing: “It is virtually impossible to avoid being exposed to the virus if one comes in contact with a carrier. Since many carriers have no symptoms at all, we must avoid all unnecessary contact with EVERYONE that we are not currently living with.”