COVID-19 Dashboard
Beginning with the data from the week ending September 10th, the COVID-19 Dashboard will be updated by noon the beginning of the following week. The data reported each week will also be adjusted to include the newest required DHEC reporting criteria which was modified the week of September 7th.
If a school determines that a student or staff member was contagious with COVID-19 while on campus or attending an official campus event, DHEC requests that these individuals be reported to the appropriate regional DHEC office by phone within 24 hours. DHEC will also notify schools of any reported cases that may have been contagious while on campus. All close contacts at the school will need to be identified. Parents of students determined to be close contacts will be notified.
CDC defines a close contact as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person (laboratory-confirmed or a clinically compatible illness) for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three individual 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes). An infected person can spread the virus starting from 48 hours before they have any symptoms (or, for asymptomatic patients, 48 hours before the specimen was collected), until they meet criteria for discontinuing home isolation.
In the K–12 schools, the close contact definition excludes students who were within 3 to 6 feet of an infected student (laboratory confirmed or a clinically compatible illness) if the exposed student(s) wore mask(s) during the exposure time. This exception does not apply to teachers, staff, or other adults in the indoor classroom setting.
Fully vaccinated people and people verified (positive PCR or antigen test) to have been infected with COVID-19 in the previous 90 days who were in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 but do not have COVID-19 symptoms do not need to quarantine unless they develop symptoms. Individuals may voluntarily choose to provide documentation of their full vaccination status to eliminate the need for quarantine. Fully vaccinated people are recommended to get tested 3-5 days after exposure, even if they do not have symptoms, and it is important for them to wear a mask at school until 14 days after exposure or they receive a negative test result.
Please note, according to this guidance, any staff members or students identified as positive COVID-19 cases or as close contacts as a result of off-campus activity are not reported by the district to DHEC, but the school nurses monitor the data and provide isolation and quarantine recommendations. They were not “contagious with COVID-19 while on campus or attending an official campus event.”
(from South Carolina DHEC COVID-19 Guidance for K-12 Schools, last released 8.24.21)
