COLOMBIA (AP) – South Carolina’s first lady, Peggy McMaster, tested positive for the coronavirus.
The governor’s office announced that McMaster, 73, had taken a “routine precaution test” on Thursday afternoon and learned on Friday morning that the results were positive. Authorities said on Friday that she was showing no symptoms.
Governor Henry McMaster, 73, was tested at the same time, with a negative result. His office said the governor would follow official guidelines for “close contacts” and quarantine for a week, while regularly testing and continuing his official duties. Your wife will be isolated for 10 days.
Peggy McMaster is often seen wearing a clear face mask instead of a cloth face cover. In their official recommendations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not recommend face shields to stop the spread of the virus because of the “large gaps below and next to the face, where their respiratory droplets can escape and reach other people around them. “.
The guidelines continue to note that “we don’t know how much protection a mask offers to people around it”.
Both McMasters tested negative for the virus before attending a Christmas event at the White House on December 14, according to the governor’s office. They also had negative tests before a December 10 meeting in Greenville with Vice President Mike Pence, in the state, for an update on the pandemic.
The news came on a day when South Carolina set a new record for the daily number of positive coronavirus tests. Health officials announced on Friday that they had confirmed 3,648 new cases of COVID-19 in the state and 28 additional deaths.
South Carolina has seen at least 247,361 cases and 4,512 deaths from the virus since the outbreak began, state health officials said.