FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2020
COLUMBIA, SC – As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise to record levels in South Carolina, public health officials announced today that the state will shift its containment efforts to community mitigation measures to slow the spread of the virus. Southern Carolinians are being called on to help, continuing to carry out actions that we know work – wearing a mask and practicing physical distance.
“As COVID-19 continues to spread in our communities at surprising rates, we are calling on Southern Carolinians to take immediate action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our communities,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, Acting Director of Public Health, SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). “Until COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available and enough people are vaccinated, we must all act now or continue to face an unprecedented number of cases that are overwhelming our hospitals and health systems, as well as taking the life of those we love. To do this, each of us must commit to the fight again. We are all on the front lines. If we don’t act now, we could face many dark months ahead. “
During containment, an effort is made to control the spread of the disease, investigating each case and all those who come into contact with them. The shift from the disease containment phase to the disease mitigation phase occurs when disease cases are widespread and difficult to investigate one by one. Information on mitigation strategies is available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
More southern Carolinians getting sick from COVID-19
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today confirmed 4,809 new confirmed cases and 136 new probable cases of COVID-19, 18 additional confirmed deaths and 5 new probable deaths. These increases occur as South Carolina faces new records for the highest number of new total cases and the highest rate of positivity – reaching 5,077 new cases on Wednesday, January 6 and a positive rate of 34.2% on Tuesday , January 5.
During the first two weeks of 2021 alone, 45,210 South Carolinians were confirmed as infected with COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in South Carolina to 337,845, probable cases to 33,335, confirmed deaths to 5,420 and 514 deaths likely.
This is happening because South Carolina, like other states in the country, continues to face an unprecedented increase in patient hospitalizations, causing a decrease in the availability of beds in our Emergency Rooms, hospitals, intensive care units (ICUs) and supply of fans.
Use of hospital beds and ventilators
As of this morning, acute care hospitals in South Carolina are almost full and emergency departments are overloaded. Of 11,329 hospital beds currently in use for patient care, 2,427 are occupied by patients with a positive test or under investigation for COVID-19. In addition, 1,754 ICU beds currently in use for patient care, 465 are occupied by COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile the 1,948 available fans, 744 are in use and 290 of these are COVID-19 patients. Many state hospitals are canceling elective services to deal with the overwhelming increase in patient numbers.
South Carolinians encouraged to know their status; Take the test regularly
DHEC strongly encourages Southern Carolinians to take the test regularly to find out their status for COVID-19 and to take action. As part of its mitigation strategy, DHEC continues to work with community partners across the state to increase access to COVID-19 tests. To date, South Carolina has conducted more than 4.16 million COVID-19 tests, which includes results from more than 2,074,355 distinct people (40% of the state’s population). In addition, more than 300 test events are open today across the state.
However, the state’s huge increase in the number of COVID-19 cases requires public health officials to focus their efforts on maximizing the effectiveness of case and contact investigation.
State takes mitigation measures to put case and contact investigations to the best use
Mitigation measures seek to make the best use of case investigations and contacts to help public health officials focus on how best to prevent the spread of the disease.
During the mitigation phase, contact investigation efforts shift from trying to find contacts close to each individual case to prioritizing case investigations from those who have tested positive or been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 6 days.
Starting immediately, contact investigators will focus contact tracking efforts on:
- home contacts exposed in the last 6 days, and
- people who live, work or visit shared residential facilities, high-density workplaces or other environments (or events) where wide dissemination is possible.
Southern Carolinians should not expect individual notification that they have been exposed to a case.
How can you help?
Everyone should play a role in preventing dissemination during the mitigation phase. Public health officials emphasize the importance of wearing a mask, practicing physical distance, staying at home and away from other people when you are ill and washing your hands frequently, regardless of whether there are cases reported in your immediate community.
“Our chance to get the best result depends on all of us doing our part,” Dr. Traxler said. “We need the Southern Carolinians to continue to fight together to fight this disease, taking small steps that make a big difference, including wearing your mask, getting tested and staying at home when you are sick, avoiding large meetings, practicing physical distance and when it’s your turn to get vaccinated. “
People with signs of illness should stay home and avoid public meetings.
For the latest information on COVID-19, visit scdhec.gov/covid19.
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