Jump in Horry COVID hospital stays is ‘eerie,’ doctor says. Who’s driving the spike?
Unvaccinated young people are largely driving a spike in COVID hospitalizations in the Myrtle Beach area as the spread of the Delta variant spurs an uptick in case counts.
McLeod Health, Tidelands Health and Conway Medical Center all reported a dramatic increase in hospitalizations in the last month. Of all the coronavirus cases reported in Horry County since the beginning of the pandemic, 2,271 have been hospitalized, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. That comes out to around 5% of Horry County’s cases since last March.
While individual hospitals don’t have the ability to test each coronavirus patient for specific variants, DHEC randomly selects positive tests in order to track variants, primarily the Delta variant. Across South Carolina, 140 cases of the Delta variant have been identified by DHEC, including 63 in the Pee Dee region. That number is likely much higher in reality, since testing by variant is done on a random basis to track the spread.
For Dr. Paul Richardson, chief medical officer at Conway Medical Center, the hospitalization rates recently have brought back disturbing memories of the state of the pandemic last summer.
“It’s kind of eerie, how much the numbers, our internal tracking, look almost like it did a year ago,” Richardson said.
Summer 2020 was a tumultuous time for the Myrtle Beach area, with tourism season forging on despite the virus. The area was designated as a “hot spot” for coronavirus infections and made national headlines as hospitalization rates skyrocketed.
Last summer’s hospitalized patients were largely in the older population and often had health issues that complicated their COVID-19 infection, and there wasn’t a vaccine available to increase immunity. But now, the most recent wave has been driven by a younger population, mostly between the ages of 20 to 50 instead of older than 55. And, for the most part, hospitalized patients haven’t been vaccinated.
How many COVID patients are hospitalized?
At Tidelands Health, 34 patients are hospitalized with COVID, 30 of which haven’t been vaccinated, according to spokesperson Dawn Bryant. That’s nearly five times the number of patients hospitalized with the coronavirus at Tidelands less than three weeks ago — seven patients were hospitalized on July 14. During the last spike of cases in January, Tidelands saw more than 70 patients hospitalized on some days, according to Bryant.
For Dr. Gerald Harmon, vice president of medical affairs at Tidelands, it’s a reminder that the pandemic isn’t over yet and the Delta variant is worth monitoring, especially as Horry County’s vaccination rate lags behind the desired 70 to 80% range. In Horry County, nearly 52% of eligible residents are fully vaccinated, according to DHEC.
“That also puts us at 50% of the population is vulnerable now to this very contagious COVID-19 virus,” Harmon said.
Conway Medical Center has followed a similar trajectory, with 30 hospitalized COVID patients, according to spokesperson Allyson Floyd. Of those 30 cases, unvaccinated people account for 22 of them. Less than three weeks ago, the health system only had eight hospitalized patients with COVID.
To contextualize that number, the Conway Medical Center hit its peak of 56 hospitalized coronavirus patients last July. The number of hospitalized patients has been steadily increasing since July 19 after remaining in the single digits for much of June, according to Floyd.
McLeod Health logged some days with zero inpatient COVID cases earlier in the summer, according to Weeks. But that’s not the case anymore.
“Today we’re almost at our peak from 2020,” Weeks told The Sun News Monday, declining to give a specific number. “We have seen a steady, consistent, dramatic increase over the past four weeks ... The overwhelming majority of our COVID inpatients are younger and unvaccinated.”
Just over 1,200 people in the age group 20 to 24 have been vaccinated, according to DHEC. More than 17,000 people in that age group live in Horry County, the most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show.
What about the breakthrough cases?
Some vaccinated people have tested positive and been hospitalized for the virus, often called a “breakthrough case.” But doctors still stressed the importance of getting inoculated, highlighting the vaccine’s ability to prevent severe illness and death.
Richardson said the vaccinated hospitalized patients typically require much less medical support like oxygen and intensive care, and the hospitalized patients who have been vaccinated often have other health complications or are above the age of 70.
“What we’re seeing is, by far and away, vaccinated people are doing much better. By far and away, that is a fact,” he said. “It looks like I’m not getting anywhere near as sick as I potentially could get if I don’t get the vaccine. So that is holding true, no doubt that is holding true.”
Some vaccine holdouts are now getting the shot
Demand for the vaccine in the Myrtle Beach area became “almost nonexistent” in July, after the shot had been widely available for months and people resisted getting inoculated for a variety of reasons. But now, with DHEC figures showing roughly 59% of eligible residents in Horry County have received at least one dose, the uptake appears to be increasing slightly yet again under the threat of Delta and increasing case counts.
“[People getting vaccinated recently] mentioned the Delta variant by name,” Harmon said. “It really is not so much, just personally fearful about them getting the virus as they are about spreading it to others. And that’s the message we want to deliver.”
Vaccinations work against the Delta variant, but in rare breakthrough cases, vaccinated people can carry a viral load large enough to spread the virus to others, the CDC’s director has said.
McLeod Health had shut down its walk-in COVID vaccination site in response to the low demand for the shot, but a new group has shown interest, particularly for a vaccination event in Loris on Tuesday.
“I think they’re starting to realize that the vaccine, relative to the disease, is a pretty good option,” Weeks said. “And unfortunately, some of them are seeing loved ones getting sick and dying from COVID who were unimmunized.”
Note: Data in this story is current as of Monday afternoon.
