COLOMBIA, SC (WMBF) – A White House report on coronavirus in South Carolina shows that the spread and number of cases has not decreased.
The report marks South Carolina in the red zone for cases, indicating that there are 101 or more new cases per 100,000 people, making it the 12th highest rate in the country.
“South Carolina has seen an increase in new cases and positive testing, as well as a rapid increase in hospitalizations, which is consistent with the total resurgence of the pandemic,” according to the White House report.
Of the state’s 46 counties, Horry County has the third highest number of new cases in the past three weeks. The Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach area is also listed as one of the 17 metropolitan areas in the red zone.
The fall and winter wave was found to be almost double the rate of cases in spring and summer, according to the White House report. He says the data suggest the possibility that some strains of the virus have evolved into a more transmissible virus.
“Given this possibility and the presence of the UK variant that is already spreading in our communities and can be 50% more transmissible, we must be ready and mitigate a much faster transmission,” suggests the report.
The White House recommends aggressive mitigation that includes wearing masks, social distance and avoiding large gatherings. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced on Thursday that it is moving from disease containment to disease mitigation.
According to DHEC, during containment, the effort is made to control the spread of the disease, investigating each case and everyone who comes into contact with them. The transition from the disease containment phase to the disease mitigation phase occurs when the cases of the disease are generalized and difficult to investigate one by one.
The White House report also recommended rapid immunization as a way of reducing cases.
“No vaccine should be in freezers, but instead, it should be put on the guns now; active and aggressive immunization in the face of this increase would save lives, ”said the report.
DHEC’s interim Director of Public Health, Dr. Brannon Traxler, revealed on Friday that 100% of vaccines sent to South Carolina by the federal government were administered or scheduled to be administered. She said that the demand for the vaccine is exceeding the number of doses provided each week.
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