FOCUS: Leaders say to stay home, stay distanced, stay safe

At left is Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie at a Sunday press conference, flanked (and socially distanced) by Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg, Mount Pleasant Police Chief Carl Ritchie and Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds. Photo provided.

Staff reports  | City and county leaders strongly urged Charleston County residents to “stay home, stay distanced and stay safe” in the weeks ahead as the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Sunday, 13 people in Charleston County tested positive for coronavirus, as well as two in Berkeley County and one in Dorchester County, according to state data.  Across the state, 195 people tested positive for the virus, including 44 in Kershaw County.

“Doctors tell us that the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 would be nothing less than a death sentence for thousands of our friends and family members right here in the Lowcountry,” Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said at a Sunday press conference.  “And the only way to avoid that tragedy is for all of us to start following those three simple rules right now.”

Stay home:  “If you don’t have an essential reason to go out, don’t go out. The life you save by avoiding that unnecessary trip could turn out to be yours or one of your loved ones.” the mayor said. 

“And as difficult as this is to say to our already-suffering business owners, you as citizens have a critical role to play, too: If your business is not truly essential during this time, temporarily closing your doors or having your employees work from home now is a hard choice to make — but it’s infinitely better than the economic and social devastation that you and the rest of us will suffer if this virus gets out of control in our area.” 

Stay distanced:  “Practicing good social distancing when we have to go out for essential trips to the grocery store or the pharmacy is the best medicine we have to protect ourselves and each other.

Stay smart:  “Wash your hands. Don’t buy all the toilet paper at the grocery store. Don’t believe every crazy Facebook rumor that’s floating around. And whatever you do, don’t go out if you have a cough and fever. That’s when you have to self-quarantine immediately and go to MUSC’s telehealth website at musc.care to get into the system for testing.”

Tecklenburg, joined by Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie and representatives from North Charleston and Charleston County governments said the Lowcountry’s choice in the midst of the crisis was simple.

“If we follow these rules right now — if we stay home, stay distanced and stay smart — we can still avoid being a hotspot, like Italy or New York,” he said.  “And if we don’t follow these rules, we can spend the next few months watching funerals online — literally, thousands of funerals — because we won’t be able to gather together even to say goodbye to our loved ones.”