Greenville Mayor Knox White and local health officials say they are very concerned about the spike in coronavirus cases, especially in our area.
White held a briefing Thursday with DHEC, Prisma, Bon Secours and Greenville County Emergency Management to offer a public plea for continued social distance, facial covering, hand washing and frequent cleaning.
Watch the full briefing - click here!
Below you will find a list of speakers and the highlights from their remarks:
Knox White, Mayor, City of Greenville
White says he is getting a lot of emails about a spike in numbers.
The emails express the fact that people are not social distancing and not wearing masks.
He says some people think we opened too soon.
Knox said he and the speakers were not here to scare people but to get people’s attention.
Dr. Brannon Traxler: Preventative Medicine Physician, DHEC
There are 687 news cases in South Carolina as of Thursday.
13 new deaths in state
16,441 total cases in SC
588 deaths in state
Greenville County has 125 new cases as of Thursday.
Percentage of positive cases and hospitalization have increased as well.
1/3 of cases in Greenville County are in the Hispanic community.
Doing outreach efforts with Hispanic radio.
Wear a mask and social distance is how we stop the spread.
People around the state are not following recommendations, Traxler says.
C. Wendell James III, MD: Chief Clinical Officer at Prisma Health – Upstate
James encourages people to follow CDC recommendations.
He says you need to do it for your older parents and grandparents.
“We need to pull together as a community.”
“This is a very real problem”
“Wash your hands, social distance, if you are sick stay home.”
“This is not fiction.”
“We are going to have to be careful.”
People with chronic illness are not seeking medical help and they need to.
Dr. Eric Ossmann: Emergency Medicine Physician at Prisma Health – Upstate
Prisma has done 32,000 tests in the community and hospital.
In the last one to two weeks there has been an increase in positivity rate.
They are doing more tests and more tests are coming up positive.
“Get tested.”
He said it’s spreading in close groups. He said people getting together for a party is dangerous.
Dr. Marcus Blackstone: Chief Clinical Officer, Bon Secours St. Francis Health System
He said businesses have done their part and now it is up to individuals to do their part.
“It’s widespread now.”
“People ask ‘Is this real?’ From our seat it’s as real as it gets. It’s very real.”