As families struggle to keep children occupied during the coronavirus-related school shutdown and adults try to maintain some sense of normalcy, leaders in the Charleston County School District and at the 石榴视频黄色版 are teaming up to encourage them to do their part to 鈥渇latten the curve鈥� in South Carolina.

MUSC President David Cole, M.D., described the situation. 鈥淚 think as a community and a nation we鈥檙e standing on a beach. There鈥檚 a wave heading toward us. That wave has to break over the beach and wash past us,鈥� he said.听

鈥淭he real question is, how big is the wave? We have an opportunity to impact how large that wave is. That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e talking about when we say flatten the curve, meaning minimize the risk of exposure, minimize the impact of this disease, this wave, that will wash over us.鈥�

Charleston County school superintendent Gerrita Postlewait said parents can do their part. 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking people, after we鈥檝e gone to so much trouble and sacrifice by so many, to follow through by keeping their children at home.听

鈥淚 know it鈥檚 tempting to ask someone to watch them or take them to the day care for a little bit. But the more that we all do to help make sure that we isolate, we wash our hands, we take precautions, we avoid exposing ourselves and our children 鈥� because we don鈥檛 know for sure when we鈥檙e beginning to carry the illness. So what we鈥檙e asking is to help everyone through this.鈥�

She promoted a new hashtag for social media: .听

Cole said we can all help slow the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus. 鈥淚t鈥檚 never too late to be smart. Take ownership. Make smart decisions. What you do as an individual is important. You can also have an impact on the decisions of those around you. So call it out. Ask them, 鈥業s this really the right time to go to a gathering?鈥欌��

Like other institutions, MUSC and Charleston County schools have taken steps to reduce gatherings, using technology and innovation. Both have shifted students to virtual classrooms. MUSC has also worked to reduce the spread of the coronavirus by offering free online screenings for the virus to anyone in South Carolina and offering the state鈥檚 first drive-through specimen collection site for COVID-19 testing in a mall parking lot.

But we can do more, Cole said. 鈥淚 think a fair question is who鈥檚 going to be affected by all of this. The short answer is all of us in some manner. I sincerely hope and expect that not everybody鈥檚 going to be significantly ill. But you may be putting yourself, your sister, your mother, your grandmother at risk by the decisions you make. You need to think about that. You need to understand that.鈥澛�

鈥淕et on board by staying home,鈥� Postlewait said.