FOCUS: MUSC dashboard offers peeks into the community’s health

Staff reports  |  The Medical University of South Carolina is offering an online tool that helps make sense of data related to the coronavirus pandemic in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties.

The MUSC COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Project provides leading indicators in a color-coded dashboard that can help people make informed decisions.  Indicators in the “green” are safe, while those that are yellow and red show more work needs to be done.

According to the project, “an Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation chart from the website illustrates the level of the expected impact in South Carolina [on several indicators], and experts will continue to monitor the data and make adjustments to operations, as needed. 

“MUSC’s goal is to deliver health care in a safe and reliable environment, while pushing forward to enable a rapid and successful revitalization of the economy.  Current situation assessments for MUSC Health – Charleston (Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties), MUSC Health Florence, and MUSC Health Lancaster divisions are available on this site.”

Here’s what you can learn through key indicators on project’s situation assessment, as of Aug. 5:

IN THE GREEN: We get thumbs up thanks to a negative trend for the last two weeks and because we have enough diagnostic testing available.  Hospitals also can treat patients needing hospitalization without being in crisis.

IN THE YELLOW: We’re in the yellow, but with the seven-day average of 1.3 percent growth in new infections, we’re close to the green level of less than 1 percent. There’s also still concern that people aren’t following social distancing guidelines enough. R

IN THE RED:  There are still way too many cases of new infections reported per week to be able to handle the disease from a medical care standpoint.  As of Aug. 5, there were 1,662 cases per week, when there needed to be fewer than 546 to be safe.  The area also is in the red for speed of diagnostic testing and super spreader events at nursing homes. 

• Click here to learn more about the project and to find other tools.