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Coronavirus thread about my hometown: Camden, South Carolina. A small town which saw one of the first bad outbreaks of COVID19 in South Carolina and is a hot bed today. I'll link articles and all that I know.
I currently live in Columbia, SC less than 30 miles from Camden, I was born and raised there before moving to Columbia for college. It's everything about a stereotypical small town in the Southern United States you've ever heard: Everyone knows each other, Everyone is related
A population of about 7,000 people. One high school, etc. Our claim to fame is the Carolina Cup horserace and the birth place of Larry Doby (a distant relative of mine, I am a Doby). So believe me, everyone is shocked that it was one of the first
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden,_South_Carolina
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden,_South_Carolina
places to have people test positive for the virus. On March 6th it was reported that 2 people tested positive. (Now i'm going to show you things that were reported and things that have been discussed through word of mouth, in this age of suppression of info, that's important.
An 80 year old woman was the first one. That stumped a lot of people because, how did an 80 year old get it? She hadn't been to Italy or China....She was in a long term care facility. https://www.wbtv.com/2020/03/08/dhec-investigating-four-new-presumptive-positive-coronavirus-cases-south-carolina/
People were being told not to worry. But still how did she get it?? Now word of mouth info: She was a family member to some members who recently returned from Italy. Can't confirm but that's what is being said.
On March 7th, Camden had it's annual Irish Festival. I couldn't believe they still were but the town, state, and country were still operating under the pretense that everything was under control. https://www.irishfestcamden.com/
This would spread the disease rapidly.
This would spread the disease rapidly.
Within the week, Kershaw Health, the county hospital would have an influx of cases. At the time, members of the community were stumped. It seemed like only white people at the time were getting it. What was going on?
The hospitals were seeing way more cases than what was being reported on the news. To this day, I do not believe the number of people that have tested positive have been announced. https://www.postandcourier.com/health/covid19/at-the-heart-of-scs-coronavirus-outbreak-how-a-camden-couple-is-handling-a-positive/article_9fe4cf4c-67ca-11ea-80ed-9bbf001235f2.html
And then there was a funeral. I don't want to release any names right now but in a small town like Camden, lot's of people know each other. Funerals are a biggggg way to see a lot of people in the town get together. So there was a large funeral, with a large get together.
My mother who is an avid funeral attender (again small town, popular people go to these things because they see each other) decided not to attend. We have several health care professionals in the family who were giving us a heads up on how bad it was getting. Those that did?
Within the week we started to hear about the black residents starting to come down with it. Yes there were memes and jokes about how "Black people didn't get the disease" but it was more so exposure. I could go into how segregated the United States is, especially the South
Disclaimer: I graduated with a degree in African American studies with a focus in Public health. My research at college involved work in molecular biology lab and 2 years of research on maternal health outcomes in the United States. I thought epidemiology was in the cards.
So I'm not new to the disparities between people of color in the United States. Worse health outcomes regardless of class and income. More mothers dying in childbirth, more miscarriages, more heart disease, more asthma. A lot more things that made this virus a death sentence
So when the black residents of a small southern town with some of the worst health care and health outcomes in the United States started to come down with COVID19, people of course started to die more quickly.
An employee at Rush's a restaurant in Camden, was exposed to the virus. Her grandmother would die from it within the week and then her grandfather. https://www.foxcarolina.com/coronavirus/rush-s-says-employee-at-camden-location-tested-positive-for/article_3b6e978e-6949-11ea-8ff3-bb62e810fc5c.html
Some people who were asymptomatic still wanted to get tested as they had family members who tested positive. Some who died. But were told no, no test for them until they showed symptoms.
My mom lost 2 of her friends, a brother and sister. Both who attended the large funeral that sparked the spread in the black community in Camden. (Again word of mouth).
Churches quickly suspended service quickly after funerals and cases increased. Pastors are now wearing masks and gloves to attend quick funerals. (no more than 10 people).
My mom who just turned 65 told me that this is worse than HIV/AIDS when it first begin. (In Camden, not worldwide so from her POV) "It use to be that people got it and lived a little while in the 80s, now people are dropping like flies."
This timeline again, the first case was March 6th, today is April 9th. Where are we now?
South Carolina delayed a stay at home order for weeks. As people continued to shop, go to the beaches, go to the mall, have parties, cookouts, etc. No one was taking it seriously.
Finally 2 days ago our governor finally announced his version of a stay at home policy called "Work or Home." He was being criticized for not issuing one sooner as he didn't believe it was constitutional to tell people they had to stay at home.
Yes, in the midst of an outbreak killing thousands of people all over the country, we weren't going to dare tell people to stay at home. No further comment, I can't talk politics on this account. https://www.wyff4.com/article/south-carolina-residents-under-stay-at-home-order-what-does-it-mean/32066457
Again, no politics but our state is routinely at the bottom when it comes to: Education, Healthcare, Poverty, etc. But the constitution. *shrugs.
So at this point, we should all be very informed of what's going on right? Well not exactly.....there's been a fight between the counties and our Department of Health and Environmental control or DHEC. https://www.postandcourier.com/health/covid19/lack-of-coronavirus-data-from-sc-health-agency-frustrates-local-officials-uncertain-public/article_cbf2aed2-75b8-11ea-ac49-1f1f852a0d8a.html
"South Carolina has lagged the rest of the nation in reporting key information about its outbreak of the new coronavirus, frustrating a public paralyzed by uncertainty and local government officials desperately trying to mount an emergency response."
"The Palmetto State is not tracking how many sick patients have recovered, so the public doesn’t know how many people are still infected. It does not know how many people have been tested for the virus....."
"And it has offered little information about how many people have needed hospital care, a key measure of how widespread the state’s epidemic has become."
"Meanwhile, health officials have warned that the state’s count of known coronavirus cases is far lower than the true number of infections here. The official number — more than 1,900 as of Saturday is being kept low by limited testing for the virus and long waits for lab results
So here we are. Let's look at it like this: This disease shocked the world, it was unprecedented, no one 2 months ago in the US could've guessed it would be this bad now. (Well I did because I've been researching it since Wuhan).
Information has been HEAVILY suppressed at a local and national level. Mardi gras happened and spread in a way that is decimating the already poor and poorly resourced New Orleans/ Louisiana. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-new-orleans-mardi-gras/2020/03/26/8c8e23c8-6fbb-11ea-b148-e4ce3fbd85b5_story.html
My cousin who spent days on a ventilator was one of the people there.
Let's look at the other side. This disease spread the way it did due to a lack of information and ignorance. If you read the book World War Z by Max Brooks (Please pick it up if you haven't) there's a chapter about how misinformation was the 2nd biggest threat after the virus
And it's still spreading. COVID19 is a result of 5G towers, black people can't get the disease, the heat and humidity of the South will kill the disease once it gets hot so lets all meet outside.
No. We need something on the lines of Radio Free Earth. We need education
No. We need something on the lines of Radio Free Earth. We need education
And I write all of this to say this. I want to help. I have a background in research, I have a history of reaching out to people. I know how to spread resources. But with this... I don't even know where to begin. There's been such a horrible response
And again I can't really talk politics on this account but If this doesn't get people to vote, locally and nationally this Nov, I don't know what will.
