Lack of masks, social distancing ‘concerns me deeply,’ SC epidemiologist says
As South Carolina begins to reopen and restart its economy in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, preventative measures to further limit the spread of COVID-19 will be crucial moving forward to avoid a new surge in cases, experts have said.
But state epidemiologist Linda Bell, speaking during a virtual meeting of the Richland County ad hoc committee on the coronavirus on Tuesday, said she was “alarmed” by examples she’s seen in the community of people failing to practice those measures.
“I don’t want people to lose sight of the prevention measures. I am rather alarmed by the fact that as I try and restrict my activities in public, when I do go out, I would say that 10% of people in the businesses and stores when I have been out this past weekend had on masks,” Bell said. “And so I think that message is being missed. From a policy standpoint, reinforcing what we can to do to prevent disease is equally important, perhaps, as finding disease that’s already present.”
Throughout May, Gov. Henry McMaster and the state government has begun easing restrictions imposed at the beginning of the pandemic, lifting a “home or work” order, allowing restaurants and retail businesses to open with limits and permitting the state’s beaches to reopen.
At the same time, McMaster, Bell and other officials have recommended citizens should still practice social distancing and other safety protocols, such as hand-washing and mask-wearing. On Tuesday, Bell noted that a failure to do so will mean the novel virus will continue to spread at a high rate, and she pointed to reports of crowds of young people gathering when restaurants reopened as a particularly risky activity.
“These are optional activities. We see these social gatherings, they’re not essential activities — they’re just people on the streets in Five Points, shoulder to shoulder. It was on the front page of the paper, students out there, and not a one of them had a mask on, and that concerns me deeply,” Bell said. “There are things that we can do about that to prevent disease spread, and as long as we continue to see those types of behaviors, we’re going to continue to see high levels of disease activity.”
The federal Centers for Disease Control has recommended everyone wear cloth face masks “in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain,” and more than half of states now require face masks or coverings in some settings. South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control has a quick tutorial on its website for making a mask at home, and the state has issued guidance for some businesses to have employees and customers wear masks, but none of it is mandatory.
On Tuesday, Bell stressed the importance of wearing one anyway, calling on residents to be “community-minded” and wear masks to avoid unknowingly infecting others, especially those considered most vulnerable to complications from COVID-19.
“Since we’re doing on the relaxing in restrictions and the reopenings, we really need to focus on the safe workplaces regardless of disease activity in the community,” Bell said. “Yes, we want to see a significant downward trend, and we want to see that persist for at least 14 days, but in the meantime, people are coming back to work, and while they’re doing that, while there is a high level of disease activity, we want to make sure that they recognize the importance of wearing masks.
“There may be people in the community who believe I don’t need a mask because I’m not in one of the risk groups that was listed. I hope that’s not creating confusion for people in the public. ... We want people to understand, though, you can still be infected and you can still spread that infection to someone in your household, your loved ones, your community members.”
In addition to masks, Bell recommended the Richland County government continue to follow DHEC’s guidance for safe reopenings for its offices and buildings — entrance and exit-only doors, limited people allowed inside, socially-distanced waiting rooms and lines, providing hand sanitizers and masks and installing plexiglass shields to protect employees.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 5:35 PM.
