How COVID-19 changed Charleston — and you

Just over five years ago, a Charleston woman became one of the first two people in South Carolina to get Covid-19, health officials believe. Within 27 months, some 19,600 residents of the Palmetto state died, many in four seasonal waves from the severe respiratory pandemic and health threats it created.

See COVID-19 timeline at the bottom of this story.

Coronavirus touched everyone. It changed us — how we interact, how we assess whether a space like a grocery store is safe, how we deal with crowds and how we share things like coffee and cookies at church. Many of us continue to wash hands more often, use disinfecting wipes and apply a squirt of hand sanitizer.

Five years after Covid infected South Carolina, people continue to get sick from it, need to get vaccinated and be careful. It’s not uncommon to see some people walking around with masks.
During the crisis — particularly in the first two years — we talked with lots of people, offering daily information updates along the way. Now, five years later, we are looking back, listening to how Covid-19 changed us and changed Charleston.

Sweat: Big changes across the Lowcountry

Dr. Michael Sweat, who directs the Medical University of South Carolina’s (MUSC) Center for Global Healthl, said he has observed several significant changes to the Lowcountry and society as a whole as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic definitely opened up people’s comfort levels when it came to working remotely,” he said. “It really elucidated the pros and cons with that over time. … And the idea of telemedicine really spawned in that era and has persisted in many ways. People are still really recognizing the value there.”

He said another major shift also came as a result of the pandemic — the over-politicization of public health, which manifested in several ways, including culture wars surrounding vaccination and wearing face masks.

“It really exposed a lot of the weaknesses in the U.S. public health system,” he said. “It became political at just about every step of the line. Politics and public health merged more than I had ever seen before.”

Though the profound impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on people’s lives is easily framed as wholly negative, Sweat said there was a silver lining that came out of the years of hardships.
“Coming out of the pandemic, I was struck by the positive side of things,” he said. “At least in my world, the dedication of the health care workers, the openness and kindness of so many people out there was inspiring.” —Skyler Baldwin

Etminan: A teacher’s life turned upside down

The pandemic turned former Lowcountry educator Trevor Etminan’s life upside down. But while that time in his life was difficult, he said he’s happier than ever.

“I think I probably fit in that basket of teachers that, Covid really helped me realize some things,” he said. “Particularly in South Carolina and in education in general, nobody is really looking out for the well-being of teachers.

“Because of the way things were handled during Covid, I made the decision to leave the profession. For my health, my family’s health, it was one of the best decisions I’ve made for my family.”

Etminan explained he spent his whole life preparing for a forever career in education. He has two relevant master’s degrees, is a published researcher and was well on his way to earning a doctorate. But he said the disappointment with the education system and in the attitudes toward educators during the pandemic pushed him away.

“There was tremendous opportunity to do things differently,” he said. “On a local level, we were seeing good things happen. In Charleston County, we were seeing movement; we were seeing change. But unfortunately, the political climate we were in at the time stunted a lot of that potential change.

“I still believe there is opportunity there, but I am far less hopeful about it now.”

The pandemic taught Etminan important lessons about who was looking out for him and his family, he said. The harsh landscape led him to a new career in new construction, in which he works from home as a sales agent for Mixson, a neighborhood in Park Circle.

“Without that push, I probably would have continued to live for my career, as opposed to finding a career that now supports me and my family,” he said. “I guess, in a way, I can thank the pandemic for that.” —SB

Bell: The pandemic affected Black Charleston profoundly

The pandemic took the lives of several personal friends and several patients, remembered Dr. Thaddeus Bell, a private physician in North Charleston.

“All of the people had preexisting medical issues, and a few of their deaths occurred before the vaccine was developed,” he recalled. “A few developed cancer and other medical conditions, which were not apparent to them until they got infected with the virus.”

Bell said private medical practices like his also took a pretty big financial hit during the pandemic because of a decline in outpatient care.

“My practice is still recovering from the financial burden caused by the pandemic. A few primary care practices did not survive.”

He added that the pandemic affected Black Charlestonians profoundly, but he wasn’t surprised.

“I was keeping up with the latest information about the virus and who it would affect,” Bell said “Health disparities were already on my radar as it always has been for decades, so I knew the Black community would suffer tremendously as it did.”

During the pandemic, Bell sounded an alarm in August 2021 to alert people that vaccines were safe after figures showed Blacks were more hesitant to get the Covid vaccine or seek other treatment for symptoms, in part because of historical mistrust of medicine due to cruel past treatments.

“We had a lot of misinformation being given about the vaccine, and all the other social issues Black people were dealing with at the time — Black Lives Matter, George Floyd, everything — all of this kind of came to a head and caused a lot of mistrust among African Americans,” he explained in 2021.

That led him to share the power of vaccines by answering questions in barbershops, appearing on radio shows and speaking in public demonstrations.

“The vaccine hesitancy seen in primarily Black communities was very familiar because I had seen it before with the flu and other vaccines.” —Herb Frazier

Oliverio: ‘It was a strange time’

When Dr. Robert Oliverio talks about Covid, quiet notes of pride, hope, and frustration play at the edges of his voice.

“It was a strange time,” Oliverio, chief medical officer at Roper St. Francis, told the Charleston City Paper on March 13. “But it’s probably one of the more gratifying things I’ve done in my career.”

Oliverio says he’s proud of the way his colleagues across the Roper St. Francis system responded to the crisis, making the institution nimbler and better able to meet patient needs.
“You don’t want this kind of thing to happen,” he said. “But some of the good things that came out of it, particularly in areas like telehealth and supply-chain management, we still use today.”

On a more personal level, Oliverio says the whole experience has made him more aware than ever of the role he and his fellow medical professionals play in helping patients make sense of what they’re hearing from social media and news stories.

“These are tough concepts and there’s a lot of conflicting information out there,” he said. “My job is to make sure I’m a reliable source of good medical information that’s backed up by science.” —Jack O’Toole

Lynch: Covid-19 created a new landscape for pharmacies

The Covid-19 pandemic completely changed the landscape of pharmacy services, said Cheryl Lynch, pharmacy manager at Tidewater Pharmacy in Mount Pleasant.

“I have been a pharmacist for 30 years,” she said, “and I have never seen a landscape like this. Supply chain issues have been a huge impact — you just get what you get now. The ongoing drug shortages have really impacted pharmacies.

“This is where it’s been important for patients to get connected with businesses like us, where you can have that personalized service. A big box chain can’t help people the way people need anymore.”

Lynch said pharmacists at small, local outposts have had to take on more responsibility than they were prepared for in the wake of the pandemic, beginning years ago with vaccination efforts.

“Doctors’ offices are a lot less responsive now, it seems, more than ever,” she said. “We have to be an integral part of these patients’ experiences. We have to almost fight to get them their prescriptions because things just aren’t happening as fast or the way they used to pre-Covid.
“Maybe there’s not enough workforce in the offices anymore, but something has definitely shifted, and we’ve had to step up and fill that void.”

Workforce shortages would make sense, Lynch added, as pharmacies — like many other frontline professions — suffered a mass exodus during the pandemic.

“It just changed our personal touch here in Charleston,” she said. “The friendly aspect of Charleston faltered a little bit, and hopefully, that’s coming back.” —SB

Skyler Baldwin, Andy Brack, Herb Frazier and Jack O’Toole contributed to this story.

COVID-19 TIMELINE

2020

March 6: First two cases of Covid-19 identified.

March 13: S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster declares a state of emergency, closing all public schools two days later for two weeks.

March 16: A nursing home patient in Lexington County becomes the state’s first Covid-19 death.

March 17: McMaster orders mandatory shutdown of dine-in service at bars and restaurants.

March 19: Non-essential state employees told to stay at home.

March 24: State officials announce schools will be closed until the end of April. The next month, they were closed for the rest of the school year.

April 1: Governor orders all non-essential businesses to close temporarily.

April 19: McMaster says retail stores can reopen on April 21.

May 4: “Home or work” order lifted, allowing restaurants to offer outdoor dining as well as takeout, delivery and curbside services.

May 11: South Carolina ranked last for its testing rate per 1 million people. Moved to 35th from top by July 12.

Mid-July to mid-August: First spike of Covid-19 deaths, with up to 50 people a day dying in South Carolina.

Dec. 13: State announces it would start receiving vaccines soon, prioritizing them for health workers and nursing home staff.

Dec. 27: Data show that more than 3.6 million viral or antigen tests had been given to South Carolina residents, with 421,064 reporting positive infection from the virus.

2021

Jan. 4: State has administered 2 million vaccine doses.

Late January-early February: Second spike of deaths, with 106 reported on Feb. 2.

Feb. 26: McMaster lifts rules on large gatherings. On the same day, South Carolina’s virus rate leads the nation.

March 5: Governor says masks are no longer mandatory in restaurants or public buildings.

March 8: More people allowed to get vaccines.

Mid-September to early October: Third wave of deaths, spiking at 74 per day.

2022

January: South Carolina positive cases passed 1 million.

February to mid-March: Fourth wave of deaths, spiking at 75 per day. During the month, the virus rapidly spread as the state had daily Covid-19 test positivity rates from 19% to 33% of those tested.

After May 22: Low death rates with few reported as most people had been exposed to the virus and developed antibodies or been vaccinated. Data show Covid-19 was the third-leading cause of death in 2021.