Officials are investigating how she got the virus, state health officials said Saturday morning. Her COVID-19 diagnosis is pending confirmation by the federal Centers for Disease Control, a DHEC official said at a news conference Saturday morning that included Gov. Henry McMaster.
The woman is being treated at Prisma Health Richland Hospital.
“The patient is in a special isolation room that helps keeps our team members and the community safe,” the hospital’s statement said. “Because of our expertise, Prisma Health routinely treats patients with potentially infectious diseases and follows extensive protocols to ensure the safety of our patients, team members, community and visitors.”
“The health and wellbeing of our community, including our team members, is of the utmost importance,” Sasser said. “I want to reassure everyone that Prisma Health is prepared to respond to COVID-19.”
McMaster announced that MUSC is opening up a telemedicine program that South Carolina residents can visit online to talk about any flu-like symptoms so that state health officials can know about any cases of coronavirus quickly. The service is free to South Carolinians and can be accessed at musc.care. Click on the COVID19 link at the top. The password for South Carolina residents is covid19.
Another woman in Charleston, who’s in her 30s, is also presumed to have contracted the virus.
She was recently in Italy and France and flew back to South Carolina through Charleston, a DHEC official said. MUSC said the woman is affiliated with the university.
Officials described her case as mild, adding that she did not require hospitalization.