‘We’re doing everything we can’: Myrtle Beach area daycares deal with coronavirus threat
“You wanna come in and wash your hands?” a teacher asks a young tyke at the door of My Sunshine Child Development Center in Socastee.
The youngster — only as tall as the teacher’s waist and dressed in a full rain coat to protect from the morning storm — holds out one hand, though a sink is nowhere nearby.
“Yeah!” the excited girl says, hugging Dad and heading inside.
That scene has become commonplace at daycare centers across the Myrtle Beach area as the threat of coronavirus continues to grow.
Child care centers are taking different approaches as they deal with the threat coming into the facilities. Some have closed their doors entirely, others have limited who is allowed inside.
My Sunshine director Dawn Armendt said parents are no longer allowed in the center. Instead, teachers meet the youngsters at the door, check for a fever and immediately take them to wash their hands.
Handwashing was always part of the routine, usually before eating or coming in from outside, but now it’s more frequent. Teachers are also taking cleaning wipes to surfaces at every chance. Armendt said they have also limited the number of toys available to students so the teachers can track and clean what is being used.
“I feel like we’re doing everything we can,” Armendt said.
Melissa Wilson was picking up her infant daughter, Sage, from the center earlier this week and said she is not overly concerned about catching the disease from someone at the center.
“They are extremely cautious,” Wison said of the center’s staff.
Wilson said she uses the facility because she has to work during the day. She was using it five days a week, but with more extended family around with many businesses and schools closed, Sage is now only visiting twice.
While some may assume there might be more demand for child care given some parents still have to work while schools are closed, Armendt said that isn’t the case. The center has seen some students leave after their parents were laid off from their service-industry jobs.
Some daycares are offering emergency care for parents facing the dilemma of needing to go to work, but having kids at home. Jennifer Davis, with Oxford Children’s Academy in Carolina Forest, said they have a few calls from people with questions, but no takers on emergency care.
“It is still available,” she said.
Like My Sunshine, Oxford has also made changes to its daily routine. Davis said parents are no longer allowed in the classrooms. The staff has limited some group sharing activities and removed toys like Play-Doh. Those changes allow more one-on-one time between the teachers and students.
The Carolina Forest center remains open and Davis said they have no plans to close — until mandated by the state.
