Doctor encourages people to follow COVID-19 safety measures as cases drop in SC

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - More people are getting vaccinated each day in South Carolina and the number of daily COVID-19 cases reported have been dropping.

The Medical University of South Carolina’s Center for Global Health Faculty director wants people to keep following COVID-19 safety guidelines like wearing masks and social distancing.

Some statewide and local restrictions are being lifted.

“Keep optimistic, I know we’re all tired, but we’re almost there so don’t give up now,” faculty director Michael Sweat said. “We’ve invested a lot. We’ve all given up a lot in the past year so you don’t want to throw that away and get an infection at the last minute maybe just before you’re eligible for a vaccine.”

He says following safety measures will get the state to the point where we can ease up in the future.

“As of today, we’re seeing about 18 infections per day for every 100,000 people,” Sweat said. “That’s around where we were at Thanksgiving, so it has come down from a real high that we had over the winter months.”

He says it’s good that the number of cases have come down in South Carolina, but it’s still at a moderate rate of infection.

Dr. Sweat says while he believes the worst of the pandemic is behind us in terms of deaths and hospitalization, he says there’s still a threat of another surge due to variants in the virus.

“It was smart to vaccinate older people because they have much higher rates of hospitalization, that’s going to really help us moving forward,” Sweat said. “Even if the rates go up many of the most vulnerable people are now being reached with vaccines, but it’s still not something a young person wants to catch.”

You can read more from Dr. Sweat here.