COVID-19 updates: South Carolina health officials reported 766 cases of coronavirus on Friday, with 36 additional confirmed deaths.
With 6,324 tests collected, the percent-positive rate was 12.1 percent.
As of 3 p.m. Sept. 18, via S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control:
Confirmed cases in S.C.: 133,310 (+766 new cases since Thursday)
Percent Positive: 12.1% (up from 11.8%)
Positive tests in Charleston County (total): 15,142 (+36)
Negative tests in S.C.: 1,021,977
Deaths in S.C. from COVID-19: 3,010 (+36)
Top Stories
South Carolina DHEC releases data that suggests wearing a mask works. The third updated analysis shows that mask ordinances are effective to reduce the spread of the coronavirus compared to jurisdictions that don’t have ordinances. For example, for the first week after a mask ordinance, jurisdictions saw a 66 percent decrease in cases a month later. Source: DHEC
Trump bans TikTok and WeChat. The U.S. Commerce Department issued a new order on Friday that would block downloads of both TikTok and WeChat, two popular Chinese-owned apps, over concerns about data collection. The ban could take effect as soon as Sept. 20. Source: The Verge
What we’re reading
The Atlantic: The U.S. Is on the Path to Destruction
Vox: How #SaveTheChildren is pulling American moms into QAnon
The New Yorker: Zoom Fatigue and the New Ways to Party
Rolling Stone: What It’s Like to Work at Disney World During a Pandemic
Texas Monthly: Top Dog: An Oral History of ‘Wishbone’
The Latest from the City Paper
Sperry suspends sponsorship of Charleston Race Week over flag with Confederate ‘motif’
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Farmers Market returning to Marion Square with ‘essentials’ Sept. 26
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