Is it finally time for hot girl spring break in Myrtle Beach? Here’s what a top doctor says
This time last year, vaccines were becoming widely available, COVID-19 cases were declining and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it was safe for vaccinated people to go maskless in certain circumstances.
And still, Myrtle Beach, like the rest of the U.S., spent the rest of the year battling two new coronavirus variants and waves of new cases that seemed to start just as the last one stopped. It felt like a redo of June 2020 when The New York Times wrote an article titled, “The Young Cut Loose in Myrtle Beach. The Virus Followed Them Home.”
Now, there’s a sense of déjà vu. COVID-19 cases have fallen to their lowest levels since very early in the pandemic. Some Myrtle Beach hospitals have no patients hospitalized with the virus. The CDC said masks aren’t recommended in most cases, even indoors.
Does all this mean Myrtle Beach can finally have the “hot girl spring break” it’s waited three years for? Is it OK to let loose? Run free?
Well, maybe.
Myrtle Beach’s top doctor, Gerald Harmon, shared his thoughts on the state of COVID-19, pandemic safety and health tips for hitting the beach that have nothing to do with the coronavirus. Harmon is Tidelands Health’s vice president of medical affairs and the president of the American Medical Association.
It’s spring break in Myrtle Beach. What’s COVID-19 doing?
COVID-19 cases are at some of the lowest levels since the pandemic began. Horry County’s seven-day average positive test rate is 4.9%, indicating low community transmission of the virus, according to state COVID data. Georgetown County is even better, with a rate of just 2.6%.
The daily average of new cases in Horry County is just 13, down sharply from a height in January of more than 800 new cases per day, according to state data. Georgetown County has just three new cases on average each day.
Tidelands Health, a medical system that operates in both counties, reported it had no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday for the first time in more than two years.
Harmon said it’s been a long two years to get here. “All of us have COVID response fatigue now,” he said.
It’s not lost on Harmon that Myrtle Beach has reached this point right at the start of tourism season.
“Spring break is not so much of just having a big sigh of relief,” he said. “Spring break, as we’ve always had, heralds the dawn of a new life. Plants are blooming, birds are chirping, all that stuff.”
The metaphor extends to travel. Airports, in particular, are coming back to life, Harmon said. In his recent travels, he said some of the airports he went through were the busiest he’d seen them in years.
“I’ve been in the spring break travel environment,” he said. “Every airplane was overwhelmed with passengers. The airports were swarming with passengers. There were flights being delayed.”
Prepared for another wave
Just because COVID-19 cases are down and travel is up, Harmon said it’s not time for anyone to let their guard down completely, as tiring as that might be.
He noted the importance of wearing a mask on public transit, such as in airports, on planes and buses and in taxis. Those environments frequently don’t allow for any kind of social distancing. It’s almost a guarantee you’ll be breathing someone else’s air, greatly increasing the risk of getting or spreading COVID-19.
The federal government’s mask mandate was extended to April 18 for public transit, so it’s required by law to mask up in those situations, anyway.
Since the omicron variant blasted its way through the cloth masks millions had grown accustomed to, Harmon said it’s also important to put on a medical-grade surgical mask or N95. Surgical masks are available for sale in most places now, and the federal government has been working on making N95s available for free at pharmacies.
Masking is even more crucial for people who are at greater risk of a bad outcome if they catch COVID-19 or if they are immunocompromised. The latter group could not only experience more harm from the virus but also is more likely to transmit it, as well.
“I don’t know who’s got that 12-year-old, that 10-year-old at home that is immunocompromised,” Harmon said, noting that children under 5 still don’t have an approved vaccine they can take. “And if they go on public transportation or someplace where I’m next to them and I cough or sneeze and I’m not protected, can I have transmitted them unwittingly a deadly virus?”
Harmon said to make sure to get all doses of the vaccine, as applicable, and get a booster shot if you qualify.
“I’ve dealt with those patients that have become ill and then their family members say, ‘Hey Dr. Harmon, seeing how sick mom is, seeing how sick my daughter my brother, my dad is, I wish I had gotten vaccinated,’” he said. “I don’t pile on. ... I wish we could’ve been more transparent, somehow convinced (them).”
All that matters in those cases is, “Right now, when you leave the room, you need to have an appointment to get vaccinated,” he said.
Looking ahead
News reports have started cropping up in recent weeks pondering whether there will be another wave of the virus. The CDC announced this week that a more transmissible subvariant of omicron now accounts for one-third of U.S. cases.
“We’ve had five distinct surges of the coronavirus, and I’m hoping that it’s in the rearview mirror now,” Harmon said. “But I’m not going to guarantee you that.”
Nevertheless, Harmon said he feels fairly optimistic about the state of the virus. Not only are nearly 60% of eligible South Carolinians fully vaccinated, but hospitals have myriad ways to treat the virus, compared to two years ago when health care workers knew so little.
“We have all the weapons in place now,” he said.
At home, oral pills for the virus, monoclonal antibodies and in-hospital antiviral treatments are all part of what Harmon called the “better arsenal” health care now has to fight the virus. What’s more, as time has gone on, people have begun trusting these treatments more and are turning to their doctors to get approved medical advice, he said. All of that is on top of plenty of personal protective equipment, vaccines and ventilators.
“We had a lot of misadventures and anecdotal treatments unscientifically proven treatments and people delaying care following some internet advice,” he said.
Going forward, Harmon said his biggest hope is that people take the spring to enjoy time off, get out of the house and de-stress.
“I’m not too intimidated by (COVID),“ he said. “I don’t want your readers, my patients to be afraid to travel, afraid to resume some sense of normalcy. Just apply reasonable public health standards, social distancing when available.”
Oh, and don’t feel the need to do anything for spring break, he said. Want to stay home? That’s your right.
Beach health
Remember the days when spring break meant little more than worrying about sunburns? Here’s Harmon’s advice on beach health as you, in his words, “take advantage of whatever the world allows.”
- Staying at a hotel or vacation rental (Airbnbs, VRBOs, etc.)? Watch out for bed bugs! Do some research on where you plan to stay ahead of time. If you see an article or two about bed bugs there, try booking somewhere else. The Better Business Bureau of Coastal Carolina is a great source of information on that, too.
- Sunscreen! Apply it frequently, especially after a swim. Skin cancer is a whole lot less cool than that tan you’ve wanted for years.
- Planning to get back out in the dating scene? Have that one-night stand on your vacation? Harmon said it’s important to be careful and use protection Some sexually transmitted infections can have “lifelong consequences,” he warned.
- “Be thoughtful; don’t return to adolescence,” Harmon said. In other words, you might be looking for your hot girl spring break for the first time in three years, but that doesn’t mean you can throw all sense out the door.
- Water safety: Traveling to a country you’ve never been before? Consider drinking bottled water. Your immune system might not be as strong as it once was after sitting at home for 24 months.
- Take Benadryl (diphenhydramine) with you. Harmon said it’s surprisingly good at helping with a whole host of health problems, from rashes to allergies to so much more.
And, please, enjoy the sunshine and warm water in Myrtle Beach.
This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 9:33 AM.
