Ohio county reports COVID-19 outbreak after trip to Myrtle Beach. West Virginia cases grow
More than a dozen high school students in an Ohio county have tested positive for coronavirus after a trip to Myrtle Beach, officials said.
About 90 students from Belmont County, Ohio, and neighboring West Virginia, recently visited the Grand Strand, said Robert Sproul, deputy health commissioner with the Belmont County Health Department. To date, 14 students have tested positive for COVID-19.
The students said they returned from their trip on June 14 and started to develop symptoms about five days later.
There are several tests pending, Sproul said. The Health Department is working with the students’ families to make sure none of the relatives have contracted the virus.
The Belmont County outbreak is the latest surge in coronavirus cases seen in some states after trips to Myrtle Beach. Some people on social media have questioned whether the Grand Strand is safe with the increase in cases. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice warned his state about travels to the Myrtle Beach area.
“I would think twice before I did that, West Virginia, right now because they got a real problem going on,” Justice said at a Friday news conference.
In Preston County, West Virginia, there have been 26 positive coronavirus cases traced back to trips to Myrtle Beach. The county had fewer than 20 cases before the most recent outbreak. At least five West Virginia counties have tied COVID-19 cases to Myrtle Beach vacations.
Ohio health officials did not respond to a Sun News request last week to see if the state had concerns about travel to Myrtle Beach.
Horry County has seen a surge in cases since hotels started taking new reservations and the beginning of the summer tourist season. As of Sunday, the area had 1,931 COVID-19 cases and 39 deaths.
A vast majority of the cases — roughly 1,500 — were confirmed after June 1.
South Carolina health officials are pleading with people to wear a mask in public and practice social distancing. So far they have resisted calls to shut down businesses to help stem the rising number of cases across the state.
This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 1:23 PM.
