| The Greenville News & Independent Mail
note: The coronavirus outbreak is a rapidly developing event and this story contains information that has only been updated through April 22, 2020. Some of the information here may have changed due to the nature of the pandemic; updates are reflected in more current stories. For news about the coronavirus outbreak and its impact in South Carolina, visit greenvillenews.com or independentmail.com.
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State Supreme Court of SC Democrats petition on electoral rules
South Carolina Democrats filed a petition with the state Supreme Court to determine whether people who practice social detachment to avoid COVID-19 qualify as disabled people with absent voting rights.
If the court decides that, “all South Carolinians would be eligible to vote absent in the next elections,” the petition says.
Election officials, governor sued for absentee voting rules
Voting rights defenders filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against South Carolina election officials and Governor Henry McMaster for absentee voting rules that say they will dissuade people from voting during the coronavirus pandemic.
At issue is a rule that voters present a valid excuse for not voting in person, as well as a rule that a witness signs an absentee ballot for it to be counted. The process comes less than two months before South Carolina residents vote in the June 9 primary.
Read the full story here.
Lawmaker asks McMaster to reopen restaurants with outdoor seating
A South Carolina lawmaker asked Governor Henry McMaster to allow some restaurants to reopen.
On Wednesday, Deputy Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, sent a letter to McMaster, requesting “an executive order to allow qualified restaurants to serve customers in their business locations, while following the social detachment guidelines” .
These guidelines, the declared letter, would include restaurants with outdoor tables – with tables spaced at least two meters apart – should be allowed to serve customers who are members of the same family.
Read the full story here.
Greenville graduation canceled, graduation research in progress
No proms will be held for students in Greenville County this year, and school officials are deciding what to do about graduations, according to a statement from Greenville County Schools.
The elderly will be researched about their preferences at graduation ceremonies. It will include format, location and time options. Parents will also be interviewed.
“We hope to be able to announce provisional graduation plans by mid-May,” the statement said. “In this rapidly changing environment, it is impossible for us to know exactly what restrictions, if any, will be in place at the time that could impact the ceremonies.”
Lawsuit alleges that the state failed to protect COVID-19 prisoners
The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina filed a lawsuit against Governor Henry McMaster, the state’s conditionality and pardons Council and the head of the state’s Department of Corrections, saying they failed to protect prisoners, especially the most vulnerable, of COVID-19.
The suit was opened on Tuesday, the same day that prison officials announced that the Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia was closed after a second detainee tested positive for the coronavirus.
The suit includes allegations that prisoners cannot have “any significant social distance”, that state officials have failed to reduce the prison population and that there are inadequate tests for COVID-19.
Read the full story here.
Furman University accepting students for the next school year
Furman University has reopened admissions and is again accepting student applications for the year 2020-21.
The announcement comes as higher education institutions across the country are preparing for a possible decline in enrollment in the fall because of the coronavirus.
Furman stopped accepting applications in January, which was the original application deadline.
Brad Pochard, associate vice president for enrollment, said admissions reopened because students asked about extending the term.
“Our world was very different in January than it is now,” said Pochard.
DHEC reports 160 new COVID-19 cases in South Carolina
State health officials said on Wednesday that five more people with COVID-19 died in South Carolina, and another 160 people tested positive for the virus.
Of the five deaths recently reported, three were elderly people from Berkeley, Clarendon and Richland counties. The other two were middle-aged residents of Greenville and Spartanburg counties, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
DHEC officials also said on Wednesday that seven COVID-19 cases previously reported in South Carolina were determined to be residents of other states and are no longer counting the state’s total cases.
On Tuesday, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 172 new cases and 11 additional deaths.
Since the start of the pandemic, 4,761 people in South Carolina have tested positive and 140 people have died.
DHEC does not provide information on when the tests were performed.
NewSpring Church donates blood this week
The NewSpring Church will open its 13 campuses for blood donation campaigns starting on Thursday with Anderson.
Clemson and Powdersville will donate blood on Friday and Greenville and Spartanburg on Saturday. Blood donations are from 10 am to 3 pm
To learn more, visit the NewSpring website.
Public schools must remain closed until the end of the school year
Public elementary, middle and high schools in South Carolina will remain closed for the rest of the school year, Governor Henry McMaster announced on Wednesday during a press conference with state superintendent Molly Spearman.
Students will remain in school through virtual classes and a task force of educators and health professionals will determine how public schools will cope with the drop, Spearman said.
Following McMaster’s announcement, the Bob Jones Academy in Greenville, which teaches K3-12, announced that it will also continue virtual classes for at least the rest of the school year.
Read the full story here.
SC receives about US $ 1.2 million from the federal government for rural areas
South Carolina will receive just under $ 1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat the new coronavirus pandemic in rural areas of the state, according to a statement from the federal agency.
DHHS provided funding to the South Carolina Office of Rural Health to support small rural hospitals across the state.
MUSC will participate in the study of the potential COVID-19 treatment
MUSC Health will participate in a national study to determine the drug’s effectiveness against hydroxychloroquine malaria in treating patients with COVID-19.
Up to 550 patients will be included in the study, which is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Dr. Andrew Goodwin, a specialist in acute respiratory distress syndrome and an associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina Medical School, said the study is important because there are no proven therapies for the disease.
In addition, there is a lot of uncertainty about whether the drug works or is harmful, said Goodwin, who will lead the part of the MUSC Health study.
The hospital will be looking for patients who have confirmed infection, who have symptoms for 10 days or less and who have not yet taken hydroxychloroquine.
Health company SC offers free mental health app amid pandemic
Sharpen, a health technology and content company based in South Carolina, launched a free app to provide mental health resources to college students in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.
With classes transferred online, graduations canceled and requests to stay home, college students may be experiencing mental and emotional stress, officials said. Sharpen collaborates with licensed mental health providers to provide students with information, techniques and self-help guidance.
Participating schools include Furman University, USC Upstate, Spartanburg Methodist College and Limestone College.
To learn more, visit sharpenhealth.com.
Spartanburg Medical, Bon Secours joins the FDA convalescent plasma program
The Bon Secours St. Francis Health System and the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System have joined the Food and Drug Administration’s convalescent plasma program as a possible treatment for COVID-19, according to a system statement.
The program uses plasma from people who have had the virus and developed antibodies to the new coronavirus to potentially treat serious cases. Although the effectiveness of the treatment is still being researched, convalescent plasma has been used effectively to treat diseases such as polio, measles and hepatitis B in the past, the statement said.
“This can potentially save lives here in the interior of the state while providing us with important information about the treatment of this virus – information that will be invaluable to hospitals across the country as we continue this fight together,” said Dr. Chuck Morrow , medical director and vice president for medical affairs.
The FDA designated the Mayo Clinic as the program’s lead institution, but expanded it to health care providers like Bon Secours to meet the growing need for treatment options.