Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Carolina on Nov. 27
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in South Carolina. Check back for updates.
Case count nears 200,000
At least 199,538 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in South Carolina and 4,043 have died, according to state health officials.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control did not report new data on Thursday because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Officials on Friday reported 1,777 new COVID-19 cases, up from 1,243 reported Wednesday. Friday marks the highest single-day case count since July.
Twenty-eight coronavirus-related deaths were reported Friday.
As of Friday, 884 people were hospitalized in South Carolina with COVID-19.
The percentage of positive tests was 12% as of Friday. Health officials have said the number should be closer to 5% to slow spread of the virus.
Lancaster Co. sees record case count
As health officials reported the highest statewide single-day COVID-19 case count in four months on Friday, Lancaster County saw 56 new cases, the most cases reported in the county in one day since the pandemic began, the Rock Hill Herald reported.
Lancaster County’s previous high, 55, was reported Nov. 24, just days earlier.
However, since the state Department of Health and Environmental Control did not share any data on Thanksgiving Day, it is possible the 56 figure is a combination of Thursday and Friday, Lancaster County Emergency Management Director Darren Player, said.
Chester County saw 23 new cases on Friday, while York County reported 112, and one death — of a middle-aged individual — due to COVID-19.
Myrtle Beach counts on ‘the gift of travel’
Myrtle Beach, which relies heavily on the tourism industry, has seen big losses during the coronavirus pandemic. But the local chamber of commerce has a new strategy that it hopes will boost the economy.
Officials are urging holiday shoppers to skip traditional gifts this year and buy loved ones gift cards for a local hotel, The Myrtle Beach Sun News reported.
The idea is to bring in visitors later on. Chamber CEO Karen Riordan said she realizes future travel won’t help local retail businesses immediately, but she hopes people will buy gift cards from them, too.
“It’s easy to go online and shop,” Riordan said. “But you know what? Maybe you could go online, and instead of going to a big company like Amazon or Macy’s, maybe you could find a local retailer and you could still buy a Christmas present that way. That would really be helping a local business.”
McMaster rolls out rapid testing in schools
Gov. Henry McMaster signed an executive order Wednesday allowing state health officials to provide public schools with rapid antigen tests supplied by the federal government.
The order has left school districts scrambling to ready a plan, The State reported.
McMaster has repeatedly said schools should return to full-time in-person instruction, but officials were caught off guard when he announced plans for the rapid testing last week.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control anticipates the initial test kits from Abbott BinaxNow will cover about 10% of districts’ students and staff, agency spokeswoman Laura Renwick told The State. The test kits should reach school districts as early as next week.
More test kits will be provided monthly and will be allocated according to usage and district needs.
Schools are currently slated to receive about 220,000 of the 1.5 million kits. They can begin testing students once the state receives a federal waiver, but they’ve also been told to get their own waivers. Ryan Brown, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Education, said without individual waivers a violation by one school could jeopardize the testing program for all schools.
Brown said when testing starts will depend on each district’s ability to “quickly coordinate and administer a rapid testing program they hadn’t known was forthcoming,” The State reported.
“Districts were blindsided more or less by it, because they hadn’t received anything besides us telling them we were working towards it,” Brown said. “Ideally, they would have had the guidance and been prepared to review it and answer questions from their school communities prior to any type of public announcement.”
USC President Bob Caslen tests positive for COVID-19
University of South Carolina President Bob Caslen has tested positive for the coronavirus, The State reported. Caslen said it was confirmed Tuesday night.
The university president said he is continuing to work at home in isolation and is in good health.
Caslen said the test “should serve as a reinforcement that everyone needs to get tested for COVID-19 on a regular basis to protect themselves, as well as loved ones,” according to The State.
Most students, faculty and staff returning to USC for the spring semester will be required to get a coronavirus test.
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 7:09 AM.
