COVID-19 on a national and state-wide decline, though still infecting thousands
In South Carolina and Aiken County, cases are beginning to steadily decline once again, with an estimated 53 daily cases per 100,000 people. COVID-19 still marks itself a major threat in the United States, with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting around 100,000 new cases in the last 24 hours. Current total cases is estimated to be 77 million.
In Aiken county, the number of cases has dropped significantly; they went from peaking the average at more than 400 cases per day in late January, now slowing down to around 74 average cases per day as of Feb. 16.
The total number of vaccines administered has risen to 531,617,327 nationwide. Vaccinations state — and county — wide have also seen a peak, with roughly over 3 million (roughly 66%) first dose vaccinations in the state and at least 94,000 vaccinations in Aiken County (roughly 56%).
Though cases are down for now, the CDC still recommends wearing a mask in highly condensed areas and practicing social distancing while indoors. As we’ve seen with the Delta and Omicron variants, this decline may not last long and we can take extra steps to ensure that it declines faster and spreads less.
Staying at home if you feel sick, washing your hands frequently, wearing a mask in highly populated and indoor areas can all help stop the spread of COVID-19. Being vaccinated and encouraging others you know to get vaccinated can also dramatically decline serious cases and death from the virus.
The CDC recommends that anyone who has received the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines who have been vaccinated fully for five months get a booster shot. For the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, the recommendation is two months.
USC Aiken’s Convocation Center is still providing testing for students who think they may be infected Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Local pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens are offering COVID-19 testing and immunizations and appointments can be made on their websites.
For more information on testing and vaccine info, visit the DHEC or CDC websites.
