Every day, The Greenville News writes a new live story with the latest COVID-19 news relevant to our communities in the state. This is our COVID-19 news summary for November 23, 2020. We will update this story only until the end of the weekend.
Map of coronavirus SC: An analysis of COVID-19 cases by county and postal code
Greenville accounts for 15.5% of new South Carolina cases on Sunday
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 1,066 new confirmed cases and 13 new probable cases of the new coronavirus on Sunday, as well as 9 additional confirmed deaths and 1 new probable death.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 193,787 and confirmed deaths to 3,982.
Greenville County led the state again with 166 confirmed cases, while Spartanburg was second among 46 counties with 141 confirmed cases.
Greenville County, which accounts for 10.2% of the state’s population according to the latest Census Bureau estimates, was responsible for 15.5% of the COVID-19 cases reported on Sunday.
Spartanburg, which represents 6.2% of the state’s population, was responsible for 13.2% of cases.
Anderson, who accounts for 3.9% of the population, accounted for 5.2% of cases, and Pickens, who accounts for 2.5% of the population, for 7.1% of cases.
There were 8,394 individual test results reported across the state yesterday, not including antibody tests, and 12.7% were positive.
DHEC to change COVID reports
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced on Friday that the daily data from the COVID-19 it reports will be provided with a 24-hour delay from November 27. This delay will allow for a more robust analysis of the data before it is released publicly, DHEC said in a press release.
DHEC epidemiologists and data analysts will then have more time to review the information reported to the agency each day and will have more time for data validation, verification of death reports and improvements in the processing of large data files sent by partners reporting. This will also allow DHEC data and medical experts to have more time to identify and investigate any inconsistencies or abnormalities in the data, the state health agency said.
COVID-19’s daily reports will not arrive on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas or New Year. The data for those three days will be provided in the next day’s report.
Clemson will maintain quarantine facilities during Thanksgiving and plans more than 50% of face-to-face classes for spring
Clemson University will keep its campus quarantine facilities open during the Thanksgiving holiday to ensure that infected students do not return home and spread the virus to their families and communities, according to Kathy Hobgood, Director of Housing and Meals at Clemson.
Students, as always, will have the option of being quarantined in Clemson or at home for at least 10 days, Hobgood said.
Hobgood said the hosting team “takes students” through quarantine at home to ensure that they have a safe space to isolate themselves from at-risk relatives, such as grandparents.
“We are not trying to dissuade them, but we are trying to make sure they think about it all,” she told The Greenville News and the Independent Mail.
As of November 20, 71 people were quarantined in Clemson, only about half of whom were using campus facilities, according to Clemson’s COVID-19 panel.
For this week, the university announced 121 cases of COVID-19 out of 9,362 tests, according to the panel. The campus had a positive rate of 1.2%, according to the panel.
While the residential facilities will remain open during Thanksgiving Day and the home football game against Florida State the following Saturday, dorms will be closed on November 30 for the semester, Hobgood said.
About 450 students – about 6 percent of the housing capacity on campus – were allowed to stay on campus until the end of the semester, said Hobgood. Students had to apply to stay in their dormitories after Thanksgiving, when classes became virtual, but the hosting team was “generous” in allowing students to remain in Clemson.
Students who chose to move earlier received a 10% rent credit back on their student accounts, said Hobgood.
While preparations for spring are still being worked out, Hobgood said some 200 other students – freshmen and transfer students – will move to campus in the spring. The spring semester begins on January 6, according to the academic calendar.
Although test plans are still being finalized, the university will have more face-to-face classes than in the fall, according to spokesman Joe Galbraith.
About 30% of classes and laboratories will all be in-person, with another 26% offering a mix of in-person and virtual, he added. The remaining 44% of classes will be entirely virtual.
While the economy of Spartanburg is recovering, hospitals are almost full with growing cases of COVID-19
While Spartanburg’s leaders are excited about the economic recovery the county is seeing, they have a comprehensive message for the public: take COVID-19 seriously.
On November 18, hospitals in Spartanburg had a 95.8% occupancy, with 550 of the 574 beds occupied, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Despite the increase in cases and hospital occupation, the economy of Spartanburg continues on the road to recovery.
Read the full story here
Why Greenville is not charging tickets for people not to wear masks
Six months after passing an emergency mask decree, the city of Greenville did not issue a citation when it received 56 complaints of mask violations, city spokesman Beth Brotherton said.
The news comes when coronavirus cases increase again across the state, forcing cities to penalize people and businesses that break local law.
Mayor Knox White told The News that just because the city did not issue citations does not mean it is not complying with the law, adding that it depends on voluntary compliance.
Read the rest of this story here.
Here’s what to know on Saturday
- The state Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 1,479 new confirmed cases and 82 new probable cases of the new coronavirus on Friday, as well as 26 additional confirmed deaths and 5 new probable deaths.
- As families prepare for Thanksgiving and the holiday season, Governor Henry McMaster urged the public to follow the coronavirus guidelines at a meeting held in West Columbia on Thursday night.
- The Greenville County school district is asking students and parents to take precautions while on vacation to prevent an increase in coronavirus cases.
- Blood Connection, along with three Greenville sports teams, will donate blood on Friday at the Fluor Field center.