FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 8, 2020

 

COLUMBIA, S.C. —  The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) issued a public health order requiring all nursing homes and community residential care facilities licensed by DHEC to submit a weekly report detailing each facility’s current visitation status.

This public health order was issued as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect the health of long-term care facility residents and the workers who care for them while also providing for safe and careful visits with family, friends and loved ones. Under the public health order, DHEC-licensed nursing homes and community residential care facilities must provide, among other information:

• whether the facility is allowing visitation, and if not, provide the reason(s) for not allowing visitation
• the number of residents that participated in a visit in the previous seven days

All licensed nursing homes and community residential care facilities were notified of the public health order today and were provided with DHEC contact information for assistance with any questions or concerns about this new reporting requirement.

This report will be publicly available at scdhec.gov/visitation on Tuesdays beginning Oct. 13.

Daily COVID-19 Update (October 8, 2020)

Today, DHEC announced 859 new confirmed cases and 61 new probable cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, 12 additional confirmed deaths and no new probable deaths.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 149,219, probable cases to 5,536, confirmed deaths to 3,311, and 203 probable deaths.

Confirmed and probable cases: please click here.
Confirmed and probable deaths: please click here.

Who Should Get Tested?
If you are out and about in the community, around others, or not able to socially distance or wear a mask, we recommend that you get tested at least once a month.

Routine testing allows public health workers to diagnose those who are asymptomatic and interrupt the ongoing spread of the virus. Learn more about who should get tested here.

426 Testing Opportunities Available Statewide
Testing for COVID-19 is essential because it helps identify people who are infected with the virus, whether they have symptoms or not.

DHEC is working with community partners to set up mobile testing clinics and make testing available in communities across the state. Currently, there are 129 mobile testing events scheduled through November 30 and there are 297 permanent COVID-19 testing facilities across the state. Find a testing clinic or event near you at scdhec.gov/covid19testing.

Testing in South Carolina
As of yesterday, a total of 1,563,307 tests have been conducted in the state. See a detailed breakdown of tests in South Carolina on the Data and Projections webpage. DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory is operating extended hours and is testing specimens seven days a week, and the Public Health Laboratory’s current timeframe for providing results to health care providers is 24-48 hours.

Percent Positive
The total number of individual test results reported to DHEC yesterday statewide was 7,247 (not including antibody tests) and the percent positive was 11.8%.

Hospital Bed Occupancy
Hospitals report their information each day to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by way of TeleTracking, and that same reporting is also provided to DHEC. Click here to view data from today's TeleTracking report.

COVID-19 Information
For the latest information related to COVID-19 visit scdhec.gov/COVID-19. Visit scdmh.net for stress, anxiety and mental health resources from the S.C. Department of Mental Health.

*As new information is provided to the department, some changes in cases may occur. Cases are reported based on the person’s county of residence, as it is provided to the department. DHEC’s COVID-19 map will adjust to reflect any reclassified cases.

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