Good news, bad news: New COVID cases are falling in SC, but new variant detected here

The good news about COVID-19 in South Carolina is new cases are dropping; the bad news is deaths are not, and a new variant has been found in the state.

That was the news from Dr. Brannon Traxler, public health director at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, in her weekly public briefing Wednesday.

Traxler said so far 16,018 people have died after contracting the virus.

The fix, as she has said weekly for months, is vaccination.

“Vaccines don’t just protect you,” she said. They protect everyone, especially those not known to be at high risk.

“The virus remains prevalent, and it’s continuing to hurt and kill people,” she said.

The coronavirus variant known as BA.2 was diagnosed in two cases in South Carolina recently. She did not know precisely which counties the people lived in but said they were in the Midlands.

The new variant is more contagious but has about the same level of symptoms as omicron, Traxler said.

Traxler advised people to get the free COVID at-home tests available from the federal government and from DHEC.

The federal government will mail four tests to each household. Tests can be requested at covidtests.gov or pick up tests at any DHEC office across the state.