S.C. leaders suggest caution but not canceling holiday plans

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By JEFFREY COLLINS

The Associated Press

COLUMBIA - With Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, South Carolina health officials are urging people to get tested for COVID-19 before gathering for the holidays, to wear masks whenever they aren't eating and to celebrate outside if possible.

But so far, health officials aren't forcefully suggesting people skip holiday celebrations altogether.

"We recognize that the holiday season is a sacred time, and we encourage South Carolinians to avoid indoor gatherings and maintain their commitment to activities that reduce the spread of COVID-19," the state Department of Health and Environmental Control said in a statement Monday.

Since the coronavirus pandemic started, South Carolina leaders have placed more emphasis on personal responsibility, like encouraging people to wear masks, than government edicts such as mask requirements.

"Those decisions are best made at the local level," Gov. Henry McMaster said Thursday, saying local governments better know their businesses, compliance with the common sense rules and their capacity to enforce mask rules.

McMaster answered questions about the virus at a news conference he called to insist that unemployment taxes would not be raised on businesses next year. The governor said he thought the state was ready for a fall COVID-19 surge that is becoming more apparent with each day of data because of lessons learned in the summer, when South Carolina was among the nation's leader in the spread of the virus.

"I think we know a lot more about the virus than we did then. We know how to manage it. We have not been able to control it," McMaster said.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in the state is more than 1,400 for the first time since that long summer surge finally started to abate in early August.

Hospitals aren't filled, and an increase in deaths has not immediately followed, according to state Department of Health and Environmental Control data, but the noticeable spike in cases is only about a week old.

The increase in cases hasn't deterred schools from continuing with plans to bring more students into the buildings for more days.

Greenville County Schools announced Monday that it plans to have all middle-school students who want to return to classrooms in school buildings five days a week after Christmas break. Elementary students in the state's largest district returned to school full time earlier this month.

"We believe and are fully confident we have a safe path forward," Greenville County Schools Superintendent Burke Royster said. "Assuming there is not a surge."

At the moment, there isn't a surge, according to the complex ratios Royster's system uses to measure the COVID-19 risk in his schools.

Middle school won't look like it did in 2019. Students will be in pods, surrounded by Plexiglass that health officials said means they can safely sit just 3 feet apart with masks on. Meals will be distributed out of kiosks. Class changes will take place by grades to reduce crowded hallways, and start times for sixth, seventh and eighth grade will also differ by 10 or 15 minutes, so fewer students are entering or leaving simultaneously, Royster said.

All the plans - including getting high school students back in class five days a week for the second semester- depends on keeping the virus under control in the schools, Royster said.

"We may have to ask people to make adjustments with less than a week's notice if we notice things moving in the wrong direction," the superintendent said.