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MUSC Health tri-weekly COVID-19 report – Wednesday, May 6

At MUSC Health, the safety of patients, families, care team members, students, faculty and staff remains the number one priority. In an effort to provide accurate, relevant and timely COVID-19 information to news media in South Carolina and beyond, the MUSC Public Affairs and Media Relations (PAMR) department issues regular COVID-19 updates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week. Please read the report in its entirety; information can change quickly.

The Path Forward / Recovery

MUSC Health ambulatory services will open drive-in lab specimen collection and check-in sites for vulnerable patient populations who need regular blood draws and blood pressure checks related to ongoing monitoring of their conditions, but who may not wish to enter a facility to complete these services. These individuals include those in treatment for cancer, heart issues or organ transplantation, for example. These services do NOT include COVID-19 specimen collection- those services are separated, even if physically located outdoors in the same general location.

Patients who need these monitoring services will receive lab orders from their MUSC providers, likely after connecting through MUSC Health’s telehealth platform. All efforts will be made to match patients with their preferred location below, beginning Wednesday, May 6:

  • MUSC Health Primary Care- Springview
    87 Springview Lane, Summerville
    Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
  • MUSC Health East Cooper Medical Pavilion
    1600 Midtown Avenue, Mount Pleasant
    Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 8:15 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
  • MUSC Health Rutledge Tower
    135 Rutledge Avenue, Charleston
    Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Patients will drive in, park in a designated area and check-in at the tent to have their blood work completed or blood pressure checked. Patients do not need to enter the building and MUSC staff will be there to assist with patient check in and wayfinding.


ICYMI: Leaders from Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties announced a collaborative effort, led by One Region, to establish a consistent roadmap for employers and residents that inspires confidence as we prepare to safely reopen our local economy. MUSC is providing expertise and guidance for monitoring, testing and tracing efforts to help the local community safely reopen the economy. One Region will work closely with the Governor’s office to ensure that re|IGNITE is aligned with accelerateSC. The phase one plan will be released in the next two weeks. View the video announcement from regional leaders and for more information visit oneregionreignite.org.

ICYMI: The MUSC COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Project is a digital dashboard that provides leading indicators related to the COVID-19 epidemic to enable informed decisions. An Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) chart from the website illustrates the level of the expected impact in South Carolina, and experts will continue to monitor the data and make adjustments to operations, as needed. MUSC’s goal is to deliver health care in a safe and reliable environment, while pushing forward to enable a rapid and successful revitalization of the economy.

A current situation assessment for MUSC Health – Charleston (Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties) is also available on this site. Data related to MUSC Health Florence and Lancaster divisions are now live as well.

As the community moves forward to revitalize the economy, the possibility exists that a second group of COVID-19 patients may emerge as a result of relaxed social distancing restrictions, which could reverse or undermine any economic progress. To avoid this and help the statewide community move forward successfully, MUSC is actively engaged with state leadership on these five actions:

  1. Staged strategic economic revitalization with businesses allowed to move forward taking responsibility for assuring appropriate social distancing, workforce and customer protection, aligned with
  2. Diagnostic testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by this new coronavirus and
  3. Antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2, the specific form of coronavirus that caused the pandemic, to define prevalence;
  4. Contact tracing deployed to respond to new COVID-19 hotspots and mitigate the potential for outbreaks; and
  5. Vigilant protection of vulnerable populations.

MUSC COVID-19 diagnostic and antibody testing

Rural and underserved communities experience disparities in access to COVID-19 screening, testing, prevention and treatment in South Carolina and nationally. MUSC Health, in partnership with the state legislature, is setting up mobile screening and collection sites in rural and underserved areas. Tents will be set up outside in designated locations to collect COVID-19 respiratory specimens from both walk-up and drive-through patients. Prescreening is not required, and the cost is free to patients. Patients will be contacted within 72 hours with the results of their test. The mobile setup allows care providers to rotate sites, reaching underserved and rural populations experiencing barriers to health care access for COVID-19 screening. Collectively, the MUSC Health ambulatory, telehealth, information solutions, emergency management and operations, finance, laboratory and leadership teams were first in the nation to launch a combined virtual urgent care platform and drive-through specimen collection site; now, they’re taking a version of this successful model to more communities that need it.

MUSC Health opened a second mobile specimen collection site in Columbia this week, located at Rice Creek Elementary School, 4751 HardScrabble Rd. The temporary site will open again Thursday, May 7, and Friday, May 8. After May 8, MUSC will evaluate the need for continued operation of this site or make a determination to move to another temporary, community location in the Columbia area. This site operates from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The temporary site previously located at Eau Claire High School will not reopen this week.

For the Sumter area, those seeking free mobile walk-up and drive-through screening and specimen collection may visit the Sumter Civic Center located at 700 West Liberty Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, May 8. After May 8, MUSC will evaluate the need for continued operation of this site or make a determination to move to another temporary, community location near the Sumter area.

MUSC Health Florence Medical Center’s mobile screening and specimen collection site locations will rotate weekly and will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Locations and dates include:

May 4 – 8        New Ebenezer Baptist Church, 307 S. Ravenel Street
May 11- 15 Iola Jones Park, 800 Oakland Avenue
May 18 – 22 Pearl Moore Basketball Center, 500 Barnes Street

In the Charleston area, a free mobile screening and specimen collection site will open Thursday, May 7, and Friday, May 8, at CC Blaney Elementary School located at 184 SC-162, Hollywood, SC 29449. Hours of operation are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. After May 8, MUSC will evaluate hours and number of days for operation the following week, as needed.


MUSC Health is offering voluntary COVID-19 serologic testing to care team members and first responders in Charleston, Florence and Lancaster divisions and within those local communities. This service is expected to expand for broader community access in coming weeks.

Early results from antibody testing indicate that just 2% of health care workers have antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Read more: https://web.musc.edu/about/news-center/2020/05/04/low-rate-of-antibodies-among-health-care-workers.

The serology test is a blood test that looks for the presence of antibodies, which are specific proteins made in response to infections. Antibodies can be found in the blood and in other tissues of those who are tested after an infection. The antibodies detected by this test indicate that a person had an antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), whether symptoms developed from the infection or the infected person was asymptomatic. These antibodies may help provide protection from future infection as well as identify those still at risk.

Antibody testing for COVID-19 is in its early phases. Hundreds of companies have developed these tests and more are coming on the market every day. There is no perfect test, but MUSC Health is committed to offering the best ones available. As MUSC Health validates and makes COVID-19 antibody testing widely available, it is important to make sure individuals and the media understand what the test results mean.

At this time, MUSC Health currently recommends the Abbott ARCHITECT SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody test. There are some limitations to this test/serological testing at this time, specifically:

  • The Abbott ARCHITECT SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibody Test has been validated by MUSC labs to have a 96% sensitivity and 99% specificity. A positive result means that there is a 99% chance that an individual had a previous COVID-19 infection.
  • Positive results do not establish proof of long-lasting immunity for any future COVID-19 infection. It is likely that an individual may have some immunity, but we do not yet know the level of immunity given the presence of antibodies. We also do not know how individual characteristics might influence this immunity.
  • Therefore, positive results should NOT be considered a reason for individuals to stop protecting themselves from COVID-19 (at work or home) in terms of social distancing practices when possible, good health hygiene, use of PPE in high-risk environments, etc.

For populations, the test is very useful to measure how much COVID-19 is occurring locally by comparing how many people have antibodies now versus later, as COVID-19 becomes more common in South Carolina.

For individuals, it is difficult to make firm conclusions and work-home decisions, based on a single antibody test. However, it is important to start testing now, knowing that tests will improve over time. In addition, our knowledge will improve on which antibodies protect people from getting COVID-19, and how long these antibodies are likely to last in the body. As we are able to document who has had prior exposure to COVID-19, we will be able to understand whether individuals are at risk for developing a second infection and its severity.

Care team members or first responders who wish to be tested can use MUSC Virtual Urgent Care (musc.care) to complete a COVID-19 (coronavirus) visit. Select “yes” on the additional information question and enter #covidimmunity in the comments section. Virtual Care will determine medical eligibility for serologic testing.

Candidates for the serology test, should schedule blood draw appointments through MUSC MyChart. Results will be available in MyChart within 48-72 hours. Testing is available at select locations in the Charleston, Florence, and Lancaster divisions and by appointment only.  Repeat testing, for those who test negative, will be offered no more than every 30 days for qualified candidates. The cost of the test will be billed to insurance carriers. Based on the recent CARES Act, insured patients will likely not have an outstanding balance for this test.

Posted on
May 7th 2020
Written by
Charleston Metro Chamber
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