COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina's state health department, DHEC, is scaling back its COVID-19 testing efforts. The agency announced Friday it will shut down most of its drive-up PCR testing sites and will stop reporting daily case numbers.
DHEC's public health director Dr. Brannon Traxler explained the changes are part of the decision to move South Carolina out of a pandemic approach and into an endemic one.
"We recognize it’s going to be here with us but we’re aiming to get it endemic," Traxler said while speaking about the coronavirus. "It’ll have more of an approach similar to what we do for influenza.”
Traxler explained that an endemic is when a virus stays in an area at low levels, like the flu, but is not severely disruptive. Because of recent downward trends in COVID-19 cases and lack of demand, DHEC is phasing out its drive-up testing sites. However, in counties that only have DHEC as a resource for PCR tests, they'll continue running at least one site.
“Not only have our cases been decreasing, but our hospitalizations have been decreasing,” said Traxler. The shift in approach is also due to the Omicron variant being less severe in illness.
However, Columbia resident Eleanore Langley worries South Carolina is letting up too soon. “I think we’ve been quick in the past to let our guard down and think things are getting better and then we find out that wasn’t the right course of action to take," Langley told News19. She said she is skeptical that the Palmetto State is ready to scale back on its COVID response.
Langley got a PCR test Friday at one of DHEC’s sites. Starting March 1st, DHEC will begin moving away from PCR tests and ramp up efforts to give out free at-home rapid tests instead. “I like being able to get a PCR test instead of a rapid test because I feel more confident in the results,” shared Langley.
When News19 asked Dr. Traxler if people can trust at-home tests, she said their accuracy has improved a lot. "They might not be quite as accurate as PCR but they're still extremely good and extremely accurate,” Traxler said.
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On March 15, DHEC will also stop reporting daily COVID-19 case counts and will report hospitalization and death data weekly. “We’re shifting our focus away from necessarily case counts and more toward indicators of severity,” explained Traxler.
Since at-home test results aren’t reported to the state, they won’t have a way of getting accurate case data. Dr. Traxler said South Carolina has plenty of supply of at-home rapid tests and most county health departments have them.
Plus, while DHEC is phasing out their PCR testing efforts, several other sites will still be open including pharmacies and hospitals.