Social distancing is working, but now isn’t time to stop, MUSC officials say
Social distancing is working, but don’t stop now.
That’s the message one of South Carolina’s largest health care providers issued along with a study on the coronavirus pandemic.
While reporting the positive effects of social distancing Wednesday, officials with the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston said they still expect a surge of COVID-19 patients in the next few weeks.
“There is evidence that in the past three weeks, social distancing has reduced the growth of new cases substantially,” MUSC spokeswoman Heather Woolwine said in a news release about the hospital’s COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Project.
The success of social distancing is an incentive to continue the process, not to revert to the way things were previously, MUSC said.
“Vigilance is needed to assure that the COVID-19 transmission remains controlled,” Woolwine said. “If social distancing is reduced now, new cases could grow quickly.”
MUSC officials warn future waves of the coronavirus are possible, and they could be sparked by “super spreader” events and “cluster outbreaks.”
The project cited Camden in Kershaw County as a COVID-19 hotspot, where a cluster of new outbreaks of the coronavirus were reported in March.
“Such events can rapidly change the trajectory of an epidemic, and vigilance is needed to identify and control quickly any super spreaders or cluster outbreaks that emerge,” it said in the project.
Based on the project, MUSC estimates there are about 3,500 people in the Charleston area with the coronavirus. This is more than the 2,571 possible cases in Charleston County, according to projections from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Since testing began, DHEC has reported 360 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Charleston County, third-most in South Carolina behind Richland County (548) and Greenville County (400).
MUSC reported it has completed 6,923 tests, and 407 have been positive, with six of those patients currently being treated in the hospital. Among those who tested positive are 41 MUSC health care workers, according to the release.
Woolwine said the number of COVID-19 patients is expected to rise in the next few weeks, but MUSC’s hospitals will have the capacity to provide care for the projected increase.
South Carolina is predicted to reach its coronavirus peak between April 30 and May 2, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. That projection also shows there will be 16 deaths reported per day when South Carolina reaches its peak.
MUSC’s project shows hospital admissions, including in intensive care units, and use of ventilators will also be at the peak in that time frame.
That study is based on the theory that South Carolina residents are following full social distancing mandates through May.
On Wednesday, 105 new cases of the coronavirus were reported in South Carolina, bringing the statewide total to 3,656 confirmed COVID-19 cases in all 46 counties, according to DHEC.
There are 26,114 possible cases in South Carolina, DHEC reported.
DHEC also announced that 10 more people died after testing positive for the coronavirus, raising that total to 107. State health officials described 94 of the people as elderly, 13 patients were middle-aged, and all but seven are confirmed to have had underlying medical conditions.
“There is currently no cure or vaccine,” the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said.
There have been 31,077 combined negative tests at DHEC’s public health laboratory and at private labs.
Symptoms of coronavirus can include a fever, coughing, and difficulty breathing, according to the CDC. Among the emergency warning signs of COVID-19 is trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, and blueish lips or face, the CDC said.
DHEC is encouraging people to practice social distancing to help stop the spread of the virus. Social distancing is staying away from unnecessary interactions with sick people and from large groups of people; it also calls for remaining at home unless it is absolutely necessary to go out.
As of Thursday morning, 2,076,015 people worldwide have been diagnosed with coronavirus and 138,008 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States leads the world with 639,664 people who have been diagnosed with the novel virus. In the U.S. 30,985 deaths have been reported, including 10,899 in New York City, according to Johns Hopkins.
