COLUMBIA, S.C. — COVID-19 cases have been spiking over recent weeks.
In fact, DHEC says cases have tripled.
At the end of October there were 35 hundred cases by the end of December now there are ten-thousand five-hundred.
Now it's left DHEC recommending those to mask up.
"Since the holidays we're really seeing an uptick of cases around the state, compared to where we were before the holiday season and so when we have higher rates of transmission, we want to do everything we can to reduce risks to the community," says Jonathan Knoche, Public Health Physician at DHEC.
He says the recommendation of a mask is just another tool for those to have in their toolbox.
We wanted to see how COVID cases are impacting the midlands so we reached out to Prisma Health who says they have seen an increase in COVID numbers but they don't have specifics at this time.
One woman who spoke to News19, says she stayed the one of Prisma's Hospitals just this week and had this to say about the experience, as cases rise.
'When I had to move around the hospital for different treatments, I noticed that there were so many beds in the hallways or the emergency room, I felt I received excellent care, I mean very timely, the team that worked on me was very proficient, they were working on people in the hallways it was non-stop, kudos to them because they were definitely hustling," said Recent Patient.
Meanwhile down the street… Lexington Medical says they've seen the increase as well.
"This holiday we've seen an increase in the number of patients who need hospitalization, for covid illnesses, fall we're seeing anywhere from 15-20-25 patients on a daily basis, in the hospital with COVID, and so those are typically your sicker patients who need more support, this morning we're at 68, the past couple of weeks the consensus has been higher," says Dr. Brett Powers, Chief Medical Officer.
He adds on a given day they will see around 420-450 patients, in the last week to 10 days they've been consistently around 500 admitted patients.
DHEC is also recommending those continue washing their hands and staying up to date with their vaccines to prevent getting sick.