Amid spike elsewhere, CSRA keeping COVID rates low for now

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A post-holiday rise in COVID-19 instances has well being officers hoping you didn’t throw your face masks away.

However in the intervening time, we’re doing fairly good at conserving infections low within the CSRA.

Whereas the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention’s “Group Ranges Map” at the moment reveals a lot of Georgia and South Carolina with medium or excessive COVID transmission ranges, most native counties have low charges. Only a handful are rated as medium and none are rated as excessive.

In South Carolina, 21 South Carolina counties have excessive transmission ranges and 23 have medium ranges, however Aiken and Barnwell counties stand out as having low ranges.

On the Georgia aspect, all native counties have low ranges, besides Taliaferro County, which has a medium degree.

Nonetheless, well being officers want to see extra individuals sporting masks for now.

“We’re seeing vital will increase in COVID-19 instances throughout our state, and we all know there are much more instances that aren’t being reported as a consequence of the usage of nonreportable house exams,” stated Dr. Brannon Traxler, public well being director for the South Carolina Division of Well being and Environmental Management.

For the reason that holidays, COVID-19 instances have been on the rise. Through the week of Oct. 29, DHEC reported 3,459 instances, in comparison with the latest week ending Dec. 31, which had 10,481 instances.With a 25% positivity enhance price within the final week, Dr. Jonathan Knoche, one in every of DHEC’s medical consultants, says everybody must make sensible, extra knowledgeable choices about what’s happening round them.

“I perceive persons are uninterested in listening to about COVID-19 and vaccines; it will get to be somewhat bit exhausting, I get that. However we additionally need to be sensible about what’s happening in our group,” Knoche says. “Once we see numbers developing, small issues that we are able to do to guard ourselves go a good distance. I believe sporting this masks is simply a kind of issues proper now.”

The Medical College of South Carolina’s Dr. Michael Sweat says you possibly can minimize your danger by avoiding crowded indoor locations and creating air flow inside indoor areas, however vaccinations are the simplest.

Over 70% of the inhabitants in South Carolina has not less than obtained their first dose of the vaccine, however the latest variant, XBB 1.5, spreads extra simply, leading to extra individuals getting contaminated.

For counties on the CDC map with excessive ranges of an infection, DHEC recommends masking for everybody in indoor settings, together with faculties and workplaces.

For these in with medium ranges of an infection, DHEC says people who find themselves at greater danger or those that are round immunocompromised people are inspired to masks up, whereas it’s optionally available for others.

In counties with low transmission ranges, masking will not be wanted in most settings however stays optionally available, DHEC says.

From experiences by WCSC, WIS and WRDW

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