NEWS BRIEFS: Testing, testing, one, too few being done, lawmakers say

By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | South Carolina is seeing fewer and fewer coronavirus tests conducted, and the testing being done is experiencing delays, state lawmakers said this week.

A report issued by a panel of the Re-Open South Carolina Senate Select Committee Wednesday praised the state’s health agency for ramping up testing at more than double its goal in June, but said the state should be testing 10 percent of its population — about 500,000 people — each month. In June, the agency reported testing 5 percent of the population.

A COVID-19 testing tracker shows that South Carolina appears to be testing fewer people per day than it was in June and July. While the state was hovering around 10,000 tests per day at the beginning of the month, that has dropped to an average of about 5,000 per day this week. 

The Senate report also called on the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to work with Clemson University and University of South Carolina on development of a quicker saliva test, and using federal funds to provide free testing available to every person. 

The Post and Courier reported Thursday that results from tests are taking as long as a week. The report also called on using federal money from the CARES Act to bolster the state’s personal protective equipment stockpiling efforts that can be made available to smaller providers and pay the state’s 25 percent share on funding the 800 National Guard troops deployed around the state beginning Aug. 22.

The legislature will reconvene in mid-September to dole out more money from the CARES Act, and the report called on state agencies like DHEC to send financial impacts to the Senate Finance Committee. 

In other news:

Masks appear to be working. DHEC released data this week showing that it appears widespread mask use is making a dent in confirmed COVID-19 cases, which dipped below 1,000 reported per day. This means instead of projecting more than 7,400 deaths by Dec. 1, the agency projects 3,671 deaths by Dec. 1. Already, the virus has claimed 2,089 lives as of Thursday.

Democrat flips Trump pick’s S.C. House seat. Democratic candidate Spencer Wetmore is the unofficial winner of Tuesday’s special election (results will be certified Aug. 15, check here) to replace the seat left by former James Island Rep. Peter McCoy, a Republican tapped by the Trump administration as a U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina earlier this year. Wetmore, who is Folly Beach city administrator, defeated Republican Josh Stokes and Green Party candidate Eugene Platt for the seat. She will have to defend the newly-won seat again Nov. 3 from Stokes in the general election. 

Lawsuit alleges sexual assault at DJJ melee. The S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice has been named in a lawsuit claiming that a December fight among girls housed at the department’s Midlands Evaluation Center spilled over into where boys were housed. At least four girls were sexually assaulted in the encounter, according to the lawsuit. The suit says the agency did not have enough security officers to protect the children and the officers did not have proper training. DJJ declined to comment due to pending litigation. Read more here. 

• Related: After DJJ’s Broad River caught federal attention for use of isolation, its director says guards hesitated on intervening in violent incidents, subjected to attacks. 

School district plans approved. The state Department of Education has approved all 81 school districts’ plans for fall instruction. All districts were required to have a virtual option available to all students. See all plans here. 

S.C. among worst places to have a baby. WalletHub reported this week South Carolina is 49th for best places to have a baby — making the state second to last in the nation.  (Alabama is last.) Among the data cited was the 2019 DHEC report on infant mortality, which showed huge racial disparity concerns. The state also ranked among last for its “baby friendliness” metrics which included parental leave policies, mom groups per capita, child care centers per capita, full weight birth rate, and state policy on Medicaid-covered parenting programs. Read the Wallet Hub study.

Shooting case renews calls for prison signal jamming. State officials say inmates are planning crimes via smartphones that have been smuggled into prisons. They found success in jamming technology at Broad River Correctional, but they are asking state lawmakers to pass legislation to aid in jamming cell signals at all state prisons in light of a case in which an inmate allegedly planned shootings from inside a prison. Read more. 

Top state legislators tell high court to stay out of absentee voting. Republican House Speaker Jay Lucas and GOP Senate President Harvey Peeler want the State Supreme Court to dismiss a voter petition that seeks to expand the right to vote absentee in the upcoming November election. Read more. 

McMaster pledges support of Trump’s jobless benefit. President Donald Trump ordered Aug. 7 up to $400 per week to be added to state jobless benefits, with about $100 of that coming from state coffers, that would be scaled based on a person’s previous income. That could add up to millions for a state like South Carolina, but Gov. Henry McMaster pledged support for the executive order this week. About 223,000 South Carolinians currently receive unemployment benefits. Read more. 

Eviction crisis gets state, national attention. An estimate released Aug. 7 found that 30 million to 40 million renters are at risk of eviction during the pandemic depression, sparking fears for “the growing potential for widespread displacement and homelessness across the United States.” The National Low Income Housing Coalition report gained traction in national and state media outlets. Read the report here. 

• Previous coverage: More than half of S.C. renters at risk of eviction. 
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