Almost a year ago, The Manning Times published an article on the COVID-19 pandemic and how concentrated its effects were in Clarendon County. Afterwards, through various legislation, and, honestly, the determination of its citizens to keep their county safe, the numbers began to slowly go down.
Then, autumn came.
Schools began to re-open their doors and families began to ease into the comfort of lowered numbers. Soon enough, contact sports were being played and church service began again. Not to mention Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Ever were around the corner. Thus began the resurgence of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in Clarendon County.
A major issue was the lowering of COVID coverage in major news outlets. As the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. However, even though many felt this way, COVID doesn’t go away just because you aren’t thinking about it.
This is not to say that the County and its citizens have not been doing all they can to prevent the spread. Throughout Clarendon County you can witness various examples of social distancing, and masks have become commonplace in nearly every public space.
Still, however, COVID hasn’t given up.
Back when we reported on Clarendon’s COVID problem in April of 2020, Our total confirmed number of confirmed cases was 201. Now, only nine months later, we have a total confirmed number of 2,061.
Now, as it was said last time, this number is nowhere near as alarming when you compare it to numbers in larger counties. Take Charleston, for example: Charleston County is currently sitting at a total confirmed case number of 25,266. That is gargantuan when compared to Clarendon. However, Charleston’s rate per 100,000 citizens is 6,141. Clarendon’s rate is 6,107. So, here’s the question: How does a rural county with 57 people per square mile have as high an infection rate as a county with nearly 382 people per square mile according to US Census data?
What is happening in Clarendon to make our citizens so susceptible to this disease. Some might say it is an attitude of nonchalance towards the pandemic, some might say it’s the amount of children being exposed by continuing face-to-face learning.
While there is no singular answer to what is causing this problem, there is a list of common solutions that Clarendon could benefit from.
With the way things are looking as we enter the third week of 2021, Clarendon is leaning heavily towards these solutions.
In the past week, most schools in the county have closed their doors temporarily. Whether it be due to a now-contained COVID outbreak, or just plain old fashioned caution, These schools are taking a step to insure the protection and safety of their children.
While some of these schools have cited that what they are doing is not meant to last on a longer term, they still hold on to the fact that circumstances could change at any moment.
Outside of education, many businesses have closed in the county due to COVID outbreaks, and churches have gone almost completely virtual.
Those churches and businesses that have not been in a position to close their doors are requiring masks and social distancing.
According to officials the eventual plan is to put the entire pandemic behind us by late 2021. However, for now, Clarendon is sticking to what they know best: Keeping this county a safe and healthy place.
