Michelle Liu | Associated Press
Michelle Liu is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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South Carolina lawmakers are weighing testimony from members of the public and doctors about treatments for COVID-19. A panel of lawmakers that oversees medical issues has spent two days this month on the topic as the state continues to grapple with thousands of new cases.
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In the past few weeks, South Carolina has set records for COVID-19 hospitalizations and new cases have approached peak levels of last winter. Classes, schools and entire districts have gone virtual, leaving parents frustrated and teachers quitting weeks into the school year.
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Half of all South Carolinians eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine are now fully inoculated. The milestone announced Thursday by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control comes as a recent spike in cases driven by the delta variant has begun to decline.
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The National Guard is sending help to a South Carolina hospital system where a surge in COVID-19 patients is overwhelming emergency departments. Tidelands Health says it needs the extra hands because both of its hospitals have topped 100% capacity and emergency rooms now serve as holding areas when beds aren't available.
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The South Carolina Supreme Court has tossed out a school mask mandate by the city of Columbia. The high court ruled Thursday that the Columbia ordinance conflicts with a state budget requirement measure aimed at preventing face covering requirements.
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South Carolina's highest court is considering two challenges to a state rule limiting the ability of school districts to require masks for students and educators. The state Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday over the state legislature's June decision to write a state budget item threatening school districts with withholding state money if they required masks.
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South Carolina’s top prosecutor on Thursday sued the state’s capital city over a school mask mandate that officials allege violates state law.
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The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a mask mandate instituted by the University of South Carolina last month doesn’t violate a state budget proviso. University officials withdrew the rule requiring masks inside campus buildings earlier this month after state Attorney General Alan Wilson opined that the mandate was “likely not consistent with the intent of the Legislature.”
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A South Carolina health system is rescheduling surgeries and reassigning nurses after two of its hospitals topped 100% capacity as the delta variant spurred a new wave of coronavirus cases in the state.
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New Census data shows South Carolinians are gravitating toward the state’s coastline and the suburbs south of Charlotte, North Carolina. Those are the spots with the most population growth between 2010 and 2020.