South Carolina health department cutting COVID case reporting, testing sites
New COVID-19 case data reporting will be reduced to once a week and 30 testing sites will be closed starting next week, the state’s health department announced on Friday.
According to a Friday press release, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control beginning Tuesday will begin reporting COVID cases, hospitalizations, deaths, vaccinations and other data points only once a week. Data that is currently reported weekly, such as MIS-C cases and COVID-19 variants, will also be reported on Tuesdays.
Meanwhile, the health department will close 30 of the testing sites it operates in 13 counties starting Monday and will continue through April 1.
“Tracking daily case numbers is less useful, especially with the rise of non-reportable at-home tests,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, DHEC’s Public Health Director. “It’s much more useful to track severe cases, meaning those that unfortunately result in hospitalizations and deaths. That gives us a clearer picture of how the virus is impacting local communities.”
DHEC will continue to gradually close its COVID-19 testing vendor sites, but will continue providing free rapid at-home antigen tests at its public health departments statewide and will update its testing locator in real time to show which locations have them in stock. Additionally, the federal government has expanded its at-home test program to offer every home in the U.S. two sets of four free at-home tests. If you already ordered your first set, order a second today.
Also, DHEC is revamping COVID-19 content on its website and is editing or removing pages based on demand and accuracy of reporting. Beginning Tuesday, DHEC’s page on breakthrough cases and its page showing cases among those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated, will no longer be available. Both page removals are due to the rise of home testing, which has resulted in skewed case counts, as well as the heightened focus on severe cases.
The reduction signifies a continued decline in demand for in-person testing, a rise in demand for reliable at-home rapid antigen tests and the state and nation’s endemic approach to COVID-19, which provides guidance on how to live normal, safe lives with an ongoing presence of the virus.
As of April 1, DHEC-operated PCR sites will only be located in counties where DHEC is the only PCR-test provider or only other such provider. In those areas, DHEC also will provide mobile rapid antigen testing services.
DHEC will close 30 testing sites in 13 counties including:
- Bamberg (3) Barnwell (3)
- Chesterfield (2)
- Clarendon (2)
- Dillon (2)
- Greenwood (3)
- Laurens (2)
- Marion (2)
- Marlboro (2)
- Newberry (2)
- Oconee (2)
- Sumter (3)
- Williamsburg (2)
