“I don’t think we can be sure we’ve crossed the line”

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has said it is too early to know how long South Carolina’s current COVID spike will last or if it could end.

In previous outbreaks of the pandemic, cases first increased, followed by hospitalizations and then deaths, and then decreased in that order.

DHEC data from last month shows that the number of cases in South Carolina per 100,000 people is declining and that hospitalizations are starting to stabilize, although they remain high, with thousands of COVID patients still occupy beds.

Deaths, meanwhile, are on the increase.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we can be sure we’ve taken the leap,” said Dr Jane Kelly, deputy state epidemiologist at DHEC. “I think we still have a lot of challenges with our hospitals being filled with seriously ill people, approaching capacity in many cases.”

Kelly said she hopes the trend points to a slowing from the current peak, but worries people will become complacent and not buy into the proven mitigation measures, which she says has partly caused this. increase.

“We have let our guard down on masks, on the importance of getting vaccinated, on the importance of keeping our distance, especially indoors, so we risk this wave coming back again,” she said.

Unlike previous outbreaks, a significant portion of South Carolinians are vaccinated at this stage, with just over 50% of eligible people considered to be fully vaccinated.

But Kelly said it was not clear if this could be an indicator that any potential future flare-ups would be less severe, with more than 40% of eligible Southern Carolinians still not having received a single dose of the vaccine.

This increases the chances that the virus will continue to circulate and mutate into new variants, according to Kelly.

“We are by no means certain that there will not be a big increase this fall and winter, as more people are indoors, as more people could travel and congregate during the holidays,” he said. she declared. “If another variant emerges, that could be another cause of the push. “

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