Every day, The Greenville News writes a new story about live updates with the latest COVID-19 news relevant to our Upstate communities. This is our COVID-19 news round on November 23, 2020. We will not update this story until the end of the weekend.
SC coronavirus map: A look at COVID-19 cases by county and zip code
Greenville accounts for 15.5% of South Carolina’s new cases 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 more confirmed deaths and 1 new probable death.
The total number of confirmed cases amounts to 193,787 and confirmed deaths to 3,982.
Greenville County led the state again with 166 confirmed cases while Spartanburg was second among the 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, accounted for 15.5% of COVID-19 cases reported on Sunday.
Spartanburg, which accounts for 6.2% of the state’s population, accounted for 13.2% of cases.
Anderson, who accounts for 3.9% of the population, accounted for 5.2% of the cases, and Pickens, who accounts for 2.5% of the population, accounted for 7.1% of the cases.
8,394 individual test results were reported across the country yesterday, excluding antibody tests, and 12.7% were positive.
DHEC to change COVID reporting
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced Friday that the daily COVID-19 data they report will have a 24-hour delay starting Nov. 27. That delay will enable a more robust analysis of data before it is published, DHEC said in a press release.
DHEC’s epidemiologists and data analysts will then have more time to review the information reported to the authority each day and will have more time for data validation, verification of death reports and improvements to the processing of large data files submitted by reporting partners. This will also give DHEC data and medical experts more time to identify and investigate any data implications or discrepancies, the state health bureau said.
Daily COVID-19 reports do not come on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. Data for the three days will be given in the following day’s report.
Clemson maintains quarantine facilities during Thanksgiving, plans more than 50% personal lessons for spring
Clemson University will keep its quarantine facilities on campus open during Thanksgiving Break to ensure that infected students do not travel home and spread the virus to their families and communities, according to Kathy Hobgood, director of housing and restaurants at Clemson.
Students, as they always have, will have the opportunity to quarantine at Clemson or at home for at least 10 days, Hobgood said.
Hobgood said housing staff “quarantine students” at home to ensure they have a safe space to isolate themselves from at-risk family members, such as a grandparent.
“We’re not trying to talk to them about it, but it’s trying to make them think about all this,” she told The Greenville News and the Independent Mail.
As of November 20, 71 people were quarantined in Clemson, of which only about half used campus facilities, according to Clemson’s COVID-19 dashboard.
For this week, the university announced 121 cases for COVID-19 out of 9,362 tests, according to the dashboard. The campus saw a positive share of 1.2%, according to the instrument panel.
While residential facilities will remain open during Thanksgiving and the home football game against Florida State next Saturday, dormitories will close on Nov. 30 for the semester, Hobgood said.
About 450 students – about 6% of the housing capacity on campus – were allowed to stay on campus until the end of the semester, Hobgood said. The students had to apply to stay in their dormitories after Thanksgiving, when the classes became virtual, but the housing group was “generous” in letting students stay at Clemson.
Students who chose to move early got 10% back on their student accounts, Hobgood said.
While preparations for the spring are still ready, Hobgood said about 200 more students – beginners and transfers – will move to campus in the spring. The spring semester begins on January 6 according to the academic calendar.
While the test plans are still complete, the university will hold more personal classes than they did this fall, according to spokesman Joe Galbraith.
About 30% of lessons and labs will be offered to everyone in person, while another 26% will offer a mix of personal and virtual, he added. The remaining 44% of the classes will be completely virtual.
While Spartanburg’s economy recovers, hospitals are close to full capacity with rising cases of COVID-19
While Spartanburg leaders are happy with the economic recovery the county is seeing, they have an overarching message to the public: take COVID-19 seriously.
As of November 18, Spartanburg hospitals had 95.8% occupancy and 550 of 574 beds were occupied according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Despite increasing falls and hospital occupancy, Spartanburg’s economy is still on track to recover.
Read the whole story here
Why Greenville does not have tickets for people not to wear masks
Six months after approving an emergency worm regulation, the city of Greenville has issued no citations while submitting 56 complaints about worm violations, said city spokeswoman Beth Brotherton.
The news comes when the coronavirus case hits the state again and forces cities to punish people and companies that violate local law.
Mayor Knox White told The News just that the city has not issued quotes does not mean it does not enforce the ordinance, adding that it is due to voluntary compliance.
Read the rest of this story here.
Here’s what you need to know 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 further confirmed deaths and 5 new probable deaths.
- As families get ready for Thanksgiving and high season, Gov. Henry McMaster urged the public to follow coronavirus guidelines in a review in West Columbia Thursday night.
- The Greenville County School District urges students and parents to take precautionary measures during the holidays to prevent a sharp increase in coronavirus cases.
- The blood connection along with three Greenville sports teams will host a blood drive on Friday in the center of Fluor Field.