COVID-19 in South Carolina, now that it's a year-round virus

COVID-19 isn't the emergency it was in 2020, but it hasn't gone away. South Carolina DPH still reports COVID-19 activity through its respiratory surveillance, and the virus still sends older adults and people with weakened immune systems to the hospital every year.

What changed is how the guidance works. In March 2024 the CDC folded COVID-19 into one set of recommendations for common respiratory viruses, alongside flu and RSV. Fixed five-day isolation was replaced with a symptom-based approach: stay home while sick, and return once symptoms are improving and you've been fever-free for 24 hours without medicine. Vaccine recommendations get reviewed each season, so the right answer for a 70-year-old in Georgetown County may differ from the answer for a healthy 30-year-old in Columbia.

This section explains those recommendations, who issued them and when. We cover treatment options in general terms so you know what to ask a clinician about. We don't tell you what to take.