Before You Go: Don't forget about kids' vaccines, DHEC says; Kiawah's request for temporary poison ban denied

COVID-19 update: South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 691 new cases of COVID-19 and 45 deaths connected to the virus on Tuesday.

The percent positive rate was 18.6 percent.

As of 2:55 p.m. Aug. 18, via S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control: Confirmed cases in S.C.: 106,574 (+691 new cases since Monday)
Positive tests in Charleston County (total): 12,893 (+40)
Negative tests in S.C.: 794,372
Deaths in S.C. from COVID-19: 2,230 (+45)
Top Stories:
State epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell is urging parents and caretakers to remember to have young children vaccinated despite precautions needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection. Vaccination orders have been down, according to Bell, but the inoculations remain vital to public health as school restarts. “Children’s routine vaccinations cannot be forgotten and have never been more important,” Bell said in a DHEC press release Tuesday. Source: DHEC

The Department of Pesticide Regulation recently denied a request from Kiawah Island officials for a one-year ban on a rat poison believed to have killed several bobcats. The population of the animal has dropped to below 10, partially from the poison found in bait boxes around the area. Source: P&C

Berkeley County Councilman Tommy Newell reportedly posted a photo of himself and others in Middle Eastern garb in a now-deleted Facebook post. Newell said the photo was taken during a training exercise. Berkeley County said it had no comment. Source: Live5

What we’re reading:
ProPublica: “ICE Guards ‘Systematically’ Sexually Assault Detainees in an El Paso Detention Center, Lawyers Say”

Mother Jones: “How Scared You Should Be About the Postal Service and the 2020 Election”

The Daily Beast: “What Happens When Ex-Navy SEALS Go Full QAnon?”