Staff reports  |  South Carolina has the fourth highest rate of COVID-19 with 88 cases per 100,000 people, according to Sept. 13 data from The New York Times. At one point last week, the state ranked highest in the country, but rates in Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia are higher now, according to media reports. 

Over the last two weeks, the virus has shown few signs of abating as hospitals are filled with unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, schools struggle to stay open and hospitalizations are increasing for children.  

On Sept. 8, new data from MUSC showed the rate of breakthrough infections from COVID-19 in the area appeared to be rising slowly. But only two cases among MUSC employees and students led to hospitalization.