‘This is not fiction’: Greenville health professionals plea for folks to social distance

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.Related: SC sets another record high in coronavirus cases and it’s not because of more testing, DHEC saysTask force makes recommendations for return to class in the fallBelow you will find a list of speakers and the highlights from their remarks: Knox White Mayor, City of GreenvilleWhite 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, DHECThere are 687 news cases in South Carolina as of Thursday. 13 new deaths in state16,441 total cases in SC588 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 – UpstatePrisma 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 SystemHe 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.”Jessica Stumpf: Deputy Director, Greenville County Emergency ManagementNumber of requests for personal protective equipment and cleaning resources have declined.Ennis Fant: District 25 Councilman Greenville County “We are in a critical point in regards of COVID-19.”Fant’s district has highest increase in cases.30% of that area lives in poverty, Fant says. Multiple families are living in single family homes in this area. Most are essential workers and have underlying issues.Sara Montero: Director of Communications Hispanic Alliance Montero says the community needs to work together to reach the Hispanic population. She said the alliance encourages folks to translate everything into Spanish for this community. 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