麻豆淫院

As Americans brace for the full effects of the coronavirus, one group seems to be missing the message: college-aged students.

Though many people are heeding health officials' guidance to practice social distancing, footage of young adults at beachside parties and packed concert venues across the country have flooded social media.

鈥淚f I get corona, I get corona,鈥� says one student. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to let that stop me from partying.鈥�

Locally, about large groups of CU students attending St. Patrick's Day parties in Boulder鈥檚 鈥淭he Hill鈥� neighborhood.

In response, students in CU Boulder鈥檚 Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) are taking action with the launch of an Instagram campaign on their account,听.听

Through pictures and personal stories, students are highlighting loved ones who may be most at risk should they contract the virus. They hope the posts will convince fellow students to help #FlattenTheCurve.听

鈥淲e all know someone that is vulnerable to getting COVID-19, and uniting as students to spread this message will make our collective voice so much greater,鈥� says Anna Ritz, president of CU鈥檚 PRSSA chapter. 鈥淲e all have a part to play in combating the spread of this disease."

As the group discussed ways to encourage their peers to practice social distancing, they realized they had to find a way to make the issue personal, says Dawn Doty, CU鈥檚 PRSSA advisor and an instructor in CMCI鈥檚 Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design.

鈥淥nce the students started thinking about the people that they cared about in their lives鈥撯�揳nd needing to protect them鈥撯�搕hey sort of just really rallied around this idea, like, 鈥榊eah, let's start a student-led campaign to flatten the curve,鈥欌�� Doty says. 鈥淪o this is just a way to make it resonate with them.鈥澨�

The hashtag #FlattenTheCurve in conjunction with a graph, originally attributed to the Center for Disease Control, which demonstrates how social distancing can slow the spread of the virus to avoid a spike in cases that would overwhelm hospital resources.听

In one of the first posts from the campaign, Ritz shared a picture of herself with her elderly grandfather.听

鈥淚 may not show symptoms or get sick,鈥� she wrote, 鈥渂ut that doesn't mean he won't get sick.鈥�

In another post, the chapter鈥檚 vice president, MacKenzie Murphy, highlighted her friend鈥檚 younger sister, Lily鈥撯�揳n 18-year-old CU Boulder student who is immunocompromised.听听

鈥淸The virus] also affects those with underlying health conditions that could be even younger than ourselves,鈥� Murphy wrote.

Saving vulnerable populations is the campaign's focus, though new evidence suggests younger age groups aren鈥檛 immune from a serious outcome.

A indicates that nearly 40% of the individuals known to be hospitalized by the virus in the U.S. are between the ages of 20 and 54鈥撯�揳nd almost half of the 121 individuals known to be admitted into the ICU are under the age of 64.听

Doty says the chapter is in preliminary talks with the national organization to expand the campaign. Already, several instructors at CU Boulder and within CMCI have committed to giving their students extra credit if they participate, she says.听

鈥溌槎挂�院 are active Instagram users,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o it just makes sense for this kind of campaign to live there because that's where they're going to see that content the fastest.鈥�