Here’s how South Carolina is preparing for a potential coronavirus outbreak
As countries and companies close travel routes to China to head off the spread of the coronavirus, South Carolina health officials say the chances of the disease coming to the Palmetto State are becoming lower and lower.
Still, public health officials with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control filled in lawmakers Wednesday on what the department is doing to prevent an outbreak in the state of the respiratory virus.
“With new travel restrictions, the probability of people in the United States and in South Carolina being exposed to people with symptoms are very low,” state epidemiologist Linda Bell said.
Bell said most cases of the coronavirus — which presents flu-like symptoms — can be tied back to travel to Wuhan, China, where the virus originated. As of Tuesday, five cases of the virus have been reported in the United States.
South Carolina has seen no positive cases of the disease thus far, but state health department officials investigated several reports of what could have been the coronavirus, Bell said. Those cases were eventually ruled out as the coronavirus, she added.
The coronavirus likely mutated from similar viruses carried by animals, Bell said. When those animals got together as part of China’s wildlife trade, the virus was passed to humans.
Bell said the disease is mostly like to be spread from human to human, rather than from any animals brought to the U.S. from China. The virus is passed through bodily liquids coming from the lungs, like sneezes or coughs.
As cases of coronavirus have popped up in countries and provinces around the world, Chinese officials have reported 132 deaths and 6,078 confirmed cases of the disease, according to The Washington Post. Bell said the death rate of the virus spans from 2% to 4%.
To protect from the virus, Bell said South Carolina residents should practice normal precautions, like staying home when they’re sick, covering mouths when they sneeze or cough and immediately throwing away soiled tissues.
If someone catches the virus, there is no treatment or vaccination, Bell said.
Because the disease has flu-like symptoms, department officials are worried residents may confuse the flu with the coronavirus. Bell urged residents to get vaccinated against the flu.
Prisma Health officials — one of the larger health care systems in the state — have also made preparations for a possible outbreak of the coronavirus.
The health care system has added additional screening questions to its in-take process to identify people who potentially have the virus, Prisma spokeswoman Tammie Epps said. The system also has taught its front-line caregivers how to respond if they suspect someone may have the disease.
Prisma Health also stocked up on gowns, respirator masks and face shields, Epps said.
