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Coronavirus case in Spartanburg County; zero reported in Polk

SPARTANBURG COUNTY—The Coronavirus is creeping close to the foothills with 6 cases now reported in South Carolina; one in Moore, which is in Spartanburg County. 

There are no reported cases in Polk County, with local health and county officials meeting to prepare. 

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is currently investigating 4 additional cases of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus after two were confirmed March 6. 

Testing was done at DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory over the weekend with 4 presumptive positive cases identified in addition to the 2 positive cases announced on March 6. 

DHEC officials said 2 of the 4 new cases are direct contacts, which means close face-to-face contact with an elderly woman in Camden, S.C. who was one of the 2 cases announced on March 6. 

“One of these two individuals is a woman who was hospitalized for reasons unrelated to COVID-19 and is isolated at this time,” DHEC officials said. “The other individual, an elderly man, was temporarily admitted to a healthcare facility, was discharged, and is currently isolated at home.” 

The third new case is woman from Camden with no known connection to the other cases from Camden. The woman was evaluated at a healthcare facility, was determined not to need hospitalization and is currently in quarantine at home. 

The fourth case is from Spartanburg County, specifically Moore, S.C. just out of the City of Spartanburg. While there are also cases in Georgia and North Carolina, the Moore case is the closest to Polk County. 

The Moore man has no known connection to other area cases, but had recently traveled to Italy. He is not hospitalized and is currently isolated at home, according to DHEC. 

Other cases in South Carolina include a woman from Charleston County who is symptom-free and continuing to self-monitor at home, according to health officials. 

“Presumptive positive” means samples from these individuals tested positive for COVID-19 at DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory, however, these results are required to be confirmed by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It takes 24-48 hours for the CDC to confirm samples after they are received, according to health officials.

“We now have evidence of community spread that’s likely to be causing these initial cases in Camden in Kershaw County and the risk of spread to other communities is possible, as seen in other states across the country,” Dr. Linda Bell, State Epidemiologist said over the weekend. “We are working with the CDC and state and local officials to limit community spread while continuing with our protocol for identifying travel-related cases in the state.”  

DHEC in South Carolina is not recommending closing schools or canceling public events at this time. DHEC is monitoring absentee rates in schools and businesses and reports of illness in communities to determine if or when closures may be recommended. 

Information is updated about the virus at scdhec.gov/COVID-19.

So far, DHEC has tested 18 people for COVID-19, including the 6 presumptive positive cases, with the rest of the tests being negative. 

“We understand residents will have concerns about this new indication of community spread, however, I urge the public to remain calm and follow recommendations to prevent the spread of illness. Public health events like this one are not new to South Carolina,” Bell said. “As a state, we have responded to Zika, the H1N1 influenza pandemic, SARS, and others – including seasonal flu outbreaks, and our medical consultants conduct more than 700 disease investigations each year for a variety of illnesses. We have trained, prepared, and put systems in place to ensure that we are prepared and ready to respond to this and other events.

The following precautions were released by DHEC over the weekend: 

At this time, precautions are recommended to maintain daily routines of protecting against illness by practicing good hygiene, washing your hands, covering your cough. Individuals with signs of illness should stay home from school and work and not attend public gatherings.

Residents who are showing symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath should call their personal doctor or healthcare provider. If an individual doesn’t have a primary care physician, MUSC Health is providing free telehealth screening to all South Carolinians. Anyone experiencing symptoms can visit MUSC.care and use the promo code COVID19 and be screened without having to leave your home.

The DHEC Care Line is available to provide general information about COVID-19 by calling 1-855-472-3432 from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. seven days a week. The Care Line hours are extend to 9 p.m. tonight. Because call volume has been high, callers are urged to be patient if they receive a busy signal and try their call at a later time. For general questions about COVID-19, visit the DHEC website at scdhec.gov/COVID19. 

The CDC website can be found at cdc.gov/coronavirus.