Columbia mayor, hospital officials ask citizens to stay home for New Year’s celebrations
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin and officials with Prisma Health are asking Midlands citizens to stay home for New Year’s Eve celebrations to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The request from the third-term mayor, Prisma CEO Mark O’Halla and Prisma Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Rick Scott came during a Wednesday afternoon news conference. The officials urged Midlands residents to stay at home on what is typically one of the biggest public partying nights of the year, and suggested people have virtual New Year’s gatherings with those outside their households.
“Enjoy the New Year’s celebrations from your home,” Benjamin implored. “Enjoy it from the safety of home with your family. Let’s take advantage of technology and have virtual parties and celebrations. ... It’s our turn to say goodbye to the most difficult year many of us could imagine. We can do it safely or we can do it recklessly. I would encourage you, let’s do it safely.”
The request from the mayor and the hospital system comes as COVID-19 cases have continued to explode across the Palmetto State. On Wednesday, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced another 2,323 new virus cases and 42 new deaths. Since March, more than 280,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in South Carolina, and more than 4,800 people have died from the virus statewide.
As of Wednesday, more than 2,000 people were hospitalized in South Carolina with COVID-19, and 198 of those were on ventilators. The state announced a positivity rate of 31% on COVID tests on Wednesday, well above the 5% rate health care professionals have set as a goal.
O’Halla noted there has been a surge in COVID cases in South Carolina since the Thanksgiving holidays and said, while hospital capacity at Prisma is not currently an issue, staffing in the hospital system is being stretched tremendously. The Prisma CEO said people in South Carolina typically respond when hurricanes threaten the state. He said the need to respond to the pandemic by avoiding avoiding crowds, such as New Year’s parties, is just as critical.
“What’s happening right now with COVID is a Category 5 type of situation,” said O’Halla, referring the most serious category of hurricanes. “I’ve got over 30,000 dedicated health care workers who have been working night and day for the last 10 months, taking care of patients. ... We do all that and we don’t really ask for much. But, we are asking now, and what we are asking for is for everybody to please dial back on New Year’s celebrations. Stay home and celebrate with your immediate family.”
Meanwhile, Scott described South Carolina’s 31% COVID testing positivity rate on Wednesday as a “five alarm fire.” He pleaded with citizens not to go out and get in crowds on New Year’s Eve.
“The greatest sacrifice we can make right now, this week, is really a small one,” Scott said. “That’s to keep your distance and don’t let New Year’s Eve become a spreader event. I can’t tell you how important that is, as a physician leader.”
Columbia has already pushed its biggest New Year’s Eve party to the virtual sidelines. Famously Hot New Year, the annual New Year’s Eve bash that typically draws tens of thousands of people to Main and Gervais streets, will not be an in-person event this year, and will instead be broadcast on WLTX and streamed online.
Thursday night’s virtual Famously Hot New Year will feature a headlining performance from 90s hip-hop hitmakers Arrested Development, along with performances by Sister Hazel, Reggie Sullivan and others. Benjamin and his family will do a countdown to midnight, and there will be a virtual fireworks show featuring clips from prior celebrations. There will not be a live fireworks display over the State House this year.
O’Halla lauded the city’s decision to make Famously Hot a virtual affair.
“We understand (Famously Hot New Year) is a great event and the community really looks forward to it,” O’Halla remarked Wednesday. “But this year ... is not the right time or right year for a large get-together.”
Benjamin and Prisma’s request about New Year’s Eve parties was echoed Wednesday by DHEC’s state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell. She also asked that citizens keep their celebrations at the house.
“I think it’s fair to say that many of us are looking forward to leaving 2020 — the year that has taken so much from so many of us — behind,” Bell said in a state health department release. “But I join public health officials across the country and world in warning that New Year’s Eve celebrations could prove to be devastating. The safest way to celebrate, as it has been throughout this holiday season, is to stay home.”
For those who do venture out on New Year’s Eve in Columbia, Benjamin bluntly pointed out that city fire marshals will be “out in force” and will be writing $100 tickets for violations of the city’s mask ordinance, with “no niceties.”
“If you use the poor judgment of going out, please pack an extra 100 bucks in your pocket to pay the civil infraction associated with the violation of the mask ordinance, if you are not smart enough to wear a mask,” Benjamin said.
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 3:24 PM.
