Staff reports | More than 200,000 South Carolinians have been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The news came over the weekend as Palmetto State residents enjoyed Thanksgiving with family and friends in what many believe may signal the trigger of a surge on top of a surge.
On Sunday, state officials reported 1,053 new cases of coronavirus for a total of 202,422 cases since the beginning of the year. Through Sunday, 4,050 people in the Palmetto State have died from the virus. That’s more people than live in Manning, population 3,875, which is the county seat of Clarendon County.
South Carolina’s positivity rate — the number of people who test positive — remains in dangerous double-digit territory. On Sunday, 12.2 percent of the 8,279 people tested were positive.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, “a high percent positive means that more testing should probably be done—and it suggests that it is not a good time to relax restrictions aimed at reducing coronavirus transmission. Because a high percentage of positive tests suggests high coronavirus infection rates (due to high transmission in the community), a high percent positive can indicate it may be a good time to add restrictions to slow the spread of disease.
“As a rule of thumb, however, one threshold for the percent positive being “too high” is 5 percent.”
In other recent news:
Telehealth is booming. Telehealth is booming at MUSC and hospitals around the state – largely because of the onslaught of COVID-19, writer Rodney Welch writes in our sister publication, Statehouse Report. Through MUSC’s Center for Telehealth, medical professionals come together to reach patients and doctors throughout the Palmetto State. It is being used particularly effectively in rural areas and among risk groups, such as pregnant women with opioid addictions. “It’s really an integrated care team,” said Dr. Constance Guille said. “Obstetricians, nurses, psychiatrists and addiction specialists are all kind of working together to take care of these women.” Read the full story.
Wilson offers holiday album. Some of Charleston’s most talented session performers join vocalist Bill Wilson in a new holiday album, Soul of Christmas, Heath Ellison writes in the Charleston City Paper. He offered the album to lift up people’s spirits after a tough year: “If you have nothing else to think about, think about just being able to celebrate, being able to just be here. We lost so many people this year and I’m sure they were probably thinking of Christmas, too, just like we are.”
Whyte wins awards. Charleston artist Mary Whyte has won two national honors for her contributions to the nation’s veterans through her We the People watercolor portraits exhibited across the country and because of the formation of the Patriot Art Foundation, according to a release. White received the DAR Medal of Honor, the most prestigious award given by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the NSDAR Women in Arts Award from the Eliza Lucas Pinckney chapter in Charleston of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
New children’s book. Ravenel author Rhonda Jennings offers a new children’ book, Faith of an Anthill, in hardback ($12.99) and paperback ($9.99). It encourages children in their faith and seeking God when things look bleak. It’s available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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