Gov. Henry McMaster announced Wednesday he will not lift more COVID-19 restrictions in South Carolina as long as case counts increase.
“If these numbers continue to rise, if we continue to see this kind of danger going across our state, I will have no choice … but to keep these restrictions on crowds and gatherings in place,” McMaster said during a news conference Wednesday. “That means this fall will not be like other falls. We will not be able to have college football.”
McMaster said he will not mandate the use of face masks statewide, but he encouraged local municipalities to thoughtfully consider such measures.
“Careful consideration of restrictions is entirely appropriate at the local level,” McMaster said. “One size does not fit all.”
According to the Department of Health and Environmental Control, South Carolina hospitals are currently at 73.62 percent capacity, with a record-high 1,160 COVID-19 patients hospitalized. DHEC announced a record-high 1,497 new cases Wednesday in South Carolina.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said the high numbers are beginning to make contact tracing ineffective.
“This is severely hampering ability to conduct contact tracing for cases,” Bell said. “It’s not a means to control disease anymore, if we are unable to contain cases around individual case reports.”
Contact tracing requires interviews of three people in addition to the confirmed COVID-19 patient. More than 1,000 new cases reported each day would necessitate 4,000 or more interviews to be conducted daily. Such demand is making the contact tracing difficult.
“It is very effective to conduct contact tracing when there are a relatively small number of cases,” Bell said. “We call that containment because we can contain spread around individual cases. But when there is widespread community transmission, contact tracing is less effective in containing spread.”
McMaster and Bell encouraged South Carolinians to take the virus seriously, wear masks and practice social distancing.
“You have a voice,” McMaster said. “You have the opportunity to invest in some common sense with your friends and neighbors and remind them of what is necessary for them to do.”
