You asked questions about COVID-19 in Horry County. We broke down the answers.
As COVID-19 cases are surging across Horry County and the country largely due to lagging vaccination rates and the ultra-contagious delta variant, our readers have questions.
Ranging from how to understand local recommendations to how the delta variant changes the situation, there’s a lot to know and understand. We broke it down.
Sun News reporters have been working to answer questions on local guidelines, vaccinations, hospitalizations and case counts and more. Check out our list of reader-submitted questions to get a sense of the public health situation at this point in the pandemic.
Here are the answers to our readers’ questions about the pandemic
Does Horry County have a mask mandate?
Horry County doesn’t have a mask mandate in place. Horry County municipalities, like Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Conway, also don’t have a requirement in place.
Horry County allowed its mask mandate to expire last fall, and Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Conway stopped requiring masks this spring.
Why doesn’t the county have a mask mandate?
When cases spiked this summer to the point where the White House identified Horry County as a coronavirus “hotspot” and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) altered its guidance to recommend masks regardless of vaccination status in most places, The Sun News asked local leaders if masks would be required again. Most leaders said they would monitor the situation but stopped short of saying they would require masks.
“My personal opinion is that we do have vaccines that are free and easily available,” Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune said in early August. “I stress that personal responsibility is key right now.”
On the county level, leaders said a mandate wasn’t being considered, and it hasn’t been considered at county council meetings since.
“To never say never would be wrong … (but) if things get back to where they were last year, last June, July, I would. I would vote for a mask mandate indoor,” County Council member Harold Worley said in August. “But I don’t know, I don’t think we’re there yet.”
How many breakthrough cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been reported in Horry County?
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) doesn’t track breakthrough cases, or COVID-19 cases in people who are fully vaccinated, by county. Those numbers, along with hospitalizations and deaths, are recorded on a statewide basis, spokesperson Laura Renwick told The Sun News.
Across South Carolina, around 9,000 breakthrough cases have been reported, according to DHEC data. Of those, 779 fully vaccinated people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 and 215 have died. That comes out to around 0.42% of fully vaccinated people in South Carolina who have gotten a breakthrough infection, and around 0.04% of fully vaccinated people who have been hospitalized or died of COVID-19.
Are young people being hospitalized with COVID-19?
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 2.5% of hospitalized COVID-19 cases have been in the age group 21-30, according to DHEC. The next age group, 31-40, makes up 5.1% of coronavirus hospitalizations and 41-50 is responsible for 8.4%.
While hospitalizations are more common among older age groups, the delta variant has targeted a younger age group and doctors across Horry County have stressed the importance of getting vaccinated, especially for the younger age groups whose vaccination rates lag behind their older counterparts.
In August, more kids and teens got COVID-19 than any other month in 2021, according to data from DHEC.
How do doctors know the delta variant is responsible for a case? Is there a test for it?
There is a way to test for the super-contagious delta variant, but individual hospitals generally don’t have the ability to perform that test. The state health department conducts random testing to estimate the spread of the delta variant across the state.
In the Pee Dee region, 376 cases of the delta variant have been recorded by DHEC. The actual number of delta cases is likely much higher because of the way the health department conducts testing for different variants.
How is this county comparing to other counties with the same population?
Horry County’s population is around 351,000 compared to Spartanburg County’s population of around 327,0000, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. While Horry County has had 56,943 cases of the coronavirus since last March, Spartanburg has logged 55,641, according to DHEC data.
In Horry County, 750 people have died of COVID-19 while Spartanburg County has recorded 957 deaths.
When will a booster shot be available?
A panel for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week rejected a sweeping approval of a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, instead recommending boosters for people 65 and older and those at a high risk of severe illness.
The FDA hasn’t officially made a decision on the booster shots, and it isn’t bound by the panel’s recommendation. The Biden administration had previously recommended widespread booster shots by Sept. 20.
Advisers to the CDC are scheduled to meet this week to discuss their recommendations on a third round of shots.
Booster shots have already been approved for people with conditions that have compromised their immune system for more than a month.
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 12:17 PM.
