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Vaccination

Omicron Variant Creates Challenges for South Carolina Businesses

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

South Carolina businesses were preparing for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's large employer testing and vaccine mandate before the U.S. Supreme Court shut it down on January 13. However, the omicron variant, which made up close to 70% of all Upstate cases the week of January 10, has rendered testing and vaccination less of a guarantee that employees aren't harboring the virus. Prisma Health, a prominent health care system in the Upstate, reported an astronomical positivity rate in the asymptomatic community, with about 45% to 50% of tests from asymptomatic people coming back positive. Hospitalizations at Prisma Health jumped by 51%, representing an all-time high for COVID-19 patients.

Key Takeaways:

  • The omicron variant, which made up close to 70% of all Upstate cases the week of January 10, has rendered testing and vaccination less of a guarantee that employees aren't harboring the virus.
  • Dr. Wendell James, Prisma Health-Upstate, stated that the positivity rate in the asymptomatic community is "astronomical," with about 45% to 50% of tests from asymptomatic people coming back positive.
  • 78% of the 628 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 88% of the 65 ventilated patients with COVID-19 at Prisma facilities were unvaccinated.
  • Employees who receive the COVID-19 vaccine, including the booster, have a 30% chance of getting and transmitting the omicron variant, which is two to three times more infectious than the delta variant.
  • People with COVID-19 are infectious one to two days before they start showing symptoms, and testing can be difficult to get and resulting can take so long that often someone has passed their quarantine or isolation time by the time they get their tests.
  • Employers should advise their employees to return to the office or factory floor five days following the first day they stop showing symptoms and to wear a mask for another five days after returning.
  • Test shortages are so severe now, many experts doubted that the OSHA emergency temporary standard could have even been carried out if passed.
  • Prisma's Business Health Solutions advises businesses to make use of all the public health tools in the belt to mitigate COVID-related absences, including encouraging vaccination and masking across the board during the surge.

Statistics:

  • 70% of Upstate cases the week of January 10 were the omicron variant.
  • 45-50% of tests from asymptomatic people came back positive at Prisma Health.
  • 51% increase in hospitalizations at Prisma Health due to COVID-19.
  • 78% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at Prisma facilities were unvaccinated.
  • 88% of ventilated patients with COVID-19 at Prisma facilities were unvaccinated.
  • 30% chance of getting and transmitting the omicron variant for vaccinated employees.
  • 27% of hospital beds across the state were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
  • 85% of hospital beds across the state were occupied.

Sources:

  • "Thousands of South Carolina businesses ready for OSHA mandate before it's halted" - GSA Business Report, no date available
  • "Omicron variant creates challenges for South Carolina businesses" - The Charlotte Observer, no date available
  • "Prisma Health reports astronomical positivity rate in asymptomatic community" - GSA Business Report, January 13, 2022
  • "South Carolina hospitalizations jump 51% due to COVID-19" - The Post and Courier, January 13, 2022
  • Centers for Disease Control's masking update on January 14, 2022

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