Electrician Contractor in Lexington, SC

Regardless of whether we still want to talk about it, COVID-19 is on the rise again in South Carolina and Lexington County.

That’s what Dr. Jonathan Knoche, a medical consultant with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, told the Chronicle as he helped contextualize COVID numbers acquired by the paper from May through August.

From May 6 to June 24, weekly hospital admissions of confirmed COVID patients — the metric now used to set warning levels for the virus from low to medium to high by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — mostly went down in the state, lowering from 88 to 56 by June 24.

But since then, the state has mostly seen a sharp increase, hitting 102 on July 22, 107 on July 29, 161 on Aug. 5 and 246 on Aug. 12 and 19.

“We've kind of been at a generally low level of circulation in the community, but over the course of the last month and a half or so we're starting to see the number of hospitalizations go back up and the percentage of [emergency department] visits due to COVID also increasing,” Knoche said. “For July 1, that week, the percentage of ED visits due to COVID was 0.5%. And for the week of Aug. 19, that weekly percentage of ED visits was 3%. So that's six times as many.”

He noted that the current numbers aren’t terrible — there were 793 people admitted to hospitals in the state with COVID the week of Dec. 31, 2022, he cited as an example of how bad it’s been in the past — but people should still be concerned and take caution.

The fall and the holidays have seen a pattern of spikes, so the numbers could continue to rise.

“That's why you're hearing public health professionals, physicians, people's primary care doctors really strongly recommending that people stay up to date with their vaccines,” Knoche said. “Because the time that people need it is when they're traveling, when they're getting together with their loved ones during Thanksgiving and over Christmas. Those holidays, those family gatherings and travel are when you see opportunity for these viruses to spread.”

While there are a variety of factors that are likely playing into the rise in COVID cases — recent high temperatures pushing people to congregate inside, for instance — Knoche emphasized that the expected mid-September recommendation of a new COVID vaccine that protects against the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant could be a particular help, as the virus’ mutation could be part of what is driving the increase in hospitalizations, particularly when it comes to people who are getting COVID again.

He added that typical good habits when it comes to respiratory illness also help stem the spread, including washing hands regularly, covering coughs and sneezes and not going into school or work if you are ill.

Case numbers shared by DHEC for Lexington County and neighboring Richland County fall in line with the rise in COVID statewide.

In Lexington, there were 106 new COVID cases on May 6, with that number mostly going down each week through July 1, when the county had 58. The county has since seen sharp increases, hitting 112 on July 22, 142 on July 29, 240 on Aug. 5, 293 on Aug. 12, 400 on Aug. 19 and 608 on Aug. 26.

Richland saw much the same arc during that time, going from 148 on May 6 to 93 on June 24, and then climbing to 155 on July 22, 185 on July 29, 318 on Aug. 5, 496 on Aug. 12, 563 on Aug. 19 and 898 on Aug. 23.

Knoche cautioned that these numbers might actually be higher than what’s been reported, as the results of at-home tests often don’t make it to DHEC.

Lexington County saw a total of eight COVID deaths between May and Aug. 19, he said.

Weekly hospital admission figures from May through August weren’t immediately available, but both counties saw a spike recently.

In both counties, there were 38 new patients with confirmed COVID admitted to local hospitals in the week leading up to Aug. 12, a 65.2% increase from the previous week, before dropping slightly to 37 in the week leading up to Aug. 19.

That Aug. 12 increase is sharper than the nationwide increase during the same stretch, which was 21%, as 12,613 new confirmed COVID patients were admitted to hospitals throughout the U.S.

The hospitalization numbers are still well below the threshold to raise the county’s Hospital Admissions Level from low to medium, which is 10 admissions per 100,000 people. As of Aug. 19, the latest date for which the levels were updated, the 37 cases in the Lexington area equated to 4.8 admissions per 100,000 people.

Lexington Medical Center, the 607-bed teaching hospital in West Columbia, told the Chronicle it has seen a recent spike in COVID patients, going from a census of nine patients with the virus the week of Aug. 20 to 26 on Aug. 28.

Knoche said that while the recent rise in COVID represents a particular threat to those who are elderly or immunocompromised, getting this message through to the public can be difficult at this point.

“I think that there's a significant amount of fatigue related to hearing about COVID,” he said. “And I get it. I've also been working on this as the beginning of the pandemic, and sometimes you're tired of working on it and trying to say the same thing and message it. But it doesn't change the fact that it's still here. It doesn't change the fact that it's still harming people. And that won't change the fact that we're still going to try our best to educate people about the risks and and the way to reduce those risks by being vaccinated and practicing good health practices.”

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A Lexington County resident recently was awarded $2 million by a jury after offering to settle for less than 10% of that amount following a trip-and-fall accident at a county-managed facility.

Donna Roland sued Lexington County in October of 2020 after she says she tripped and fell while stepping down from a curb leaving the Lexington County Auxiliary Administration building, located at 605 West Main St. She visited the location to drop off an absentee ballot as a means of taking safety precautions while voting during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of the fall, Roland, who was 60 years old at the time, broke her arm in two places and had to undergo surgery 10 days later, according to Robert Goings, Roland’s lawyer.

Roland incurred $92,000 in medical bills and offered to settle with the county for $150,000, but Lexington County declined that offer.

Two-and-half years after the fall, a three-day trial ensued in a Lexington County court. And in less than 25 minutes on Wednesday, a unanimous $2 million verdict was announced in Roland’s favor. Judge Walton McLeod presided over the trial.

It was first time in Goings’ 15-year career that he’s seen a verdict so large in a county that’s historically conservative and reluctant to award such large monetary verdicts.

“I think this verdict reflects that Lexington County citizens are fed up with Lexington County government taking their tax dollars and doing nothing,” Goings said. “And the question is how many more citizens have to fall and get severely hurt before the county does the right thing and fix the sidewalk?”

Goings said Roland fell because of a channel or gap — about 3 inches wide and a half-inch deep — between the sidewalk and curb in front of the Lexington County Auxiliary Administrative building. Unaware of the defect, Goings said his client’s foot got caught in the gap as she was leaving the sidewalk and attempting to step down from the curb.

In their reply to the suit, lawyers for Lexington County argued, among other things, they lacked notice of the sidewalk’s condition because there hadn’t been a reported fall or complaint about the sidewalk area where Roland fell in the 19 years since the county bought the building in 2001 before Roland’s 2020 fall.

Goings, however, argued — and the jury agreed — that just because no one had fallen or complained about the sidewalk’s condition prior to Roland, it didn’t excuse the county of notice. But even if it had, the county’s risk manager, Sarah Lind, ultimately testified in a deposition that the county was in fact aware of the defect and that repairs were a “top priority,” according to Goings.

Lind “said it was a top priority and that they were going to get the (sidewalk) fixed,” Goings said. “Guess what? They never fixed it. And the testimony was that it would only take one or two bags of concrete at about $15 a bag to fix this.”

In his closing arguments, Goings delivered two 50 pound bags of concrete to the defense, a move he said resonated with the jury.

“I said (during my closing) what’s cheaper: ‘Nearly $100,000 in medical bills and permanent injury or two bags of concrete?’” Goings said. “The county lawyers left the bags of concrete in the courtroom and didn’t take it, so I dropped the bags off to the voter registration office after the trial in order to speed up their efforts to fix this dangerous condition.”

Efforts by The State to reach lawyers for Lexington County were unsuccessful.

LEXINGTON, S.C. (WIS) - The Lexington Town Council has started to take steps to approve a destination resort community at Lake Murray.

Officials said private developers are expected to invest more than $733 million into the project.

“This is going to create a one-of-a-kind destination on the lake and I want to thank everyone involved in getting things to this point. To say we are excited would be an understatement,” said MacDougall.

Officials said the current property, known as Smallwood Cove, is located off Beekeeper Court and North Lake Drive. The proposed development includes a marina, two hotels, retail space, and restaurants, as well as 1,100 private residential units across townhomes, and condos.

There will be five acres of land donated to the Town of Lexington to build a regional conference center, the first of its kind on Lake Murray. Mayor MacDougall said the complex will be 50,000 sq. ft. and finish completion in 2028.

The State of South Carolina has already given the Town of Lexington $6 million for the conference center.

Smallwood Cove will be a public/private economic development partnership that will create destination tourism for Lexington County and provide access to the premier lakefront property.

When the resort community is completed, it will generate substantial tax revenue and economic benefits for the state and local community officials said.

400 tourism jobs are expected to be created after the completion of the resort.

“It will attract people from all other states to come in and visit South Carolina to have a conference here, on Lake Murray. That view that you get every afternoon on Lake Murray, looking over the big water. Yeah, it’s going to be what draws people to this area and this region. And everyone will benefit from this, not just the Town of Lexington. The entire county will benefit, Richland County will benefit, the City of Columbia will benefit. People will spread out when they come to this conference center,” concluded Mayor MacDougall.

A spokesperson for The Town of Lexington said the Smallwood Cove project will go to the planning commission next week.

Elected officials said a public hearing for the project is scheduled for June 12.

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LEXINGTON, S.C. (WIS) - White Knoll High School received two bomb threats in the first couple days of school, according to a district message sent to parents and staff.

White Knoll High School is a part of Lexington County School District One and students returned to the classrooms after summer break on Aug. 9.

The school received a bomb threat on Tuesday and Wednesday, the district message said.

The threats had “a very low probability of being credible” and sweeps by law enforcements and school administrators were conducted on the campus and building.

WIS News 10 is working to confirm the results of the investigation.

Read the text from the emails sent out to parents signed by Principal Nicholas Pearson here:

Aug. 15:

“Dear White Knoll High Students, Employees and Families, WKHS was notified by law enforcement of a bomb threat directed at our school this morning. The threat had a very low probability of being credible. However, law enforcement, school & district administrators conducted a thorough sweep of the building and campus as a precaution. We are working diligently to minimize any disruptions and to ensure that our school day continues as smoothly as possible. Employees and students can help keep our school safe by remembering to say something if you see something that doesn’t look or feel right. Having a threat directed at our school is concerning and frustrating, especially considering the hard work our employees and students have put in to have a great start to the school year. Please know that we are committed to investigating all threats thoroughly and dealing aggressively with those responsible to the fullest extent of the law, regulations and policy. Thank you for your continued support.”

Aug. 16:

“WKHS was once again notified by law enforcement of a bomb threat directed at our school this morning. Again, the threat has a very low probability of being credible. However, law enforcement, school & district administrators will conduct a thorough sweep of the building and campus as a precaution. Because of this, we are implementing the “Hold” safety response while we investigate and search the campus. The “Hold” response is part of the “Standard Response Protocol” used by school districts nationwide. During a “Hold”, school administrators clear the hallways and students and employees remain in the classrooms and teaching and learning continued. Click here if you would like to learn more about the Standard Response Protocol. Please know that we are committed to investigating all threats thoroughly and dealing aggressively with those responsible to the fullest extent of the law, regulations and policy. Again, we want to reiterate that school is continuing as normal while taking the necessary safety precautions, despite these threats that have little credibility.”

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LEXINGTON, S.C. —

The next time you're headed to Columbia or the beach and get a hankering for the taste of Southern cooking, you'll want to go back in time to a country store that's well worth the detour.

Four Oaks Farm Country Store is a family-owned fourth-generation business specializing in pork products, according to owner Michael Mathias.

Very Local

It sits just off the Interstate 20 interchange with Highway 1, about 10 miles west of Columbia.

Customer Natalye Clark describes it this way: "This is a hidden gem that that a lot of people don't know about."

The store is named after the four large oak trees growing in the front yard of the Mathias family home, which stands about a hundred yards or so behind the building.

Four Oaks is just like those trees, having "stood the test of time and weathered the storms of change for nearly 85 years now," according to the store's website.

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Along with everything pork, including lots of bacon, the store also sells locally-grown fresh produce when it's in season, jams, jellies, preserves, canned vegetables and pimento cheese.

Two chefs on staff prepare everything from chicken salad to lasagna, Mathias says.

For adventures in the kitchen, they even have a cookbook that features handed-down family recipes for favorites like Southern chow chow and biscuits.

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Mathias says the store's "bread and butter" is its gift boxes that are shipped all over the country year-round from the packing and shipping warehouse that supports the mail order division of the corporation.

Grandma would never have believed her country store would get so big time.

Learn more about Four Oaks Farm Country Store and other Lexington attractions by streaming Very Local's "Eat, Play, Stay."

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