Gov. Henry McMaster is directing the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to disclose up-to-date numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases by local ZIP code — and he also said he'll require DHEC to provide an estimated number of residents who are likely infected and untested within that same ZIP code.
McMaster's call for statewide ZIP code counts as well as estimates of likely and untested cases breaks the reporting conventions set by his gubernatorial peers regionally — and even those in virus hotspots like New York, New Jersey and Michigan. State health officials across the country have focused on reporting case counts at the county level.
ZIP code data is available, however, in some major municipals like New York City. County officials in Orlando released that data Thursday. County health leaders representing Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio, released ZIP code counts Friday.
Still, those state and local leaders have not released such detailed estimates of likely infected people.
McMaster announced the requirements in two messages posted on Twitter Friday morning.
"Providing this non-identifying information violates no state or federal privacy laws and is in the public’s interest," McMaster's account tweeted. "It is my hope this disclosure will reinforce to South Carolinians the seriousness and dire necessity of staying home to prevent the spread of #covid19"
A spokesperson for DHEC said health officials plan to release confirmed and estimated cases by ZIP code later Friday.
"These estimated counts represent those who are likely undiagnosed," said DHEC spokesperson Laura Renwick via email. "By including estimates, we hope to better convey more meaningful information about the risk of disease spread in our community."
McMaster and state health officials will host a media briefing at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The Greenville News and Indep
The expected Friday release, however, is not the first time South Carolina has made this information public.
Last week, DHEC released the number of COVID-19 cases in each ZIP code, but that approach didn't last long. Less than a day later, that list included only the ZIP codes where there had been at least one case — not the number in each zip code.
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And at a Tuesday afternoon press conference, state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said the push to obtain the details of case location is a "disturbing distraction" because it suggests people do not understand the potential threat of this respiratory virus.
“There are unrecognized cases everywhere. And therefore, they have to practice those measures regardless of what they know about a specific case at a particular point in time,” she said on Tuesday.
McMaster's announcement Friday morning also repeated his message to stay at home, but it did not go as far as a stay-at-home order. Residents have been ordered to stay home in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Some legislators and health officials in South Carolina have asked for McMaster to do the same.
On CNN Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he doesn't understand while all states don't have similar orders.
McMaster's approach has been one of step-by-step rollbacks instead of sweeping restrictions to daily life. He's shuttered schools, prohibited indoor dining at restaurants, limited public gatherings, closed nonessential businesses — an executive order at a time.
At the Tuesday press conference, he praised the state's progress and reiterated his faith in the people of South Carolina to do what they've been asked to do in the interest of public health — stay home whenever possible.
“We are not ordering people to stay at home, but from the very beginning we’ve been telling people to stay home... and a lot of people are staying home,” McMaster said.
But McMaster said beaches and nonessential businesses have been among "spots that needed attention."
"In some places, there has been a lack of understanding of the seriousness of this, and that’s why we are having to move forward," he said.
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Likely coronavirus case estimate sought by SC Gov. Henry McMaster with ZIP code data - Greenville News
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