Health officials in a West Virginia county are asking that anyone who recently visited South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach, or any other beach for that matter, self-quarantine for 14 days after a new spike in coronavirus cases.
At least eight residents of Preston County in West Virginia have tested positive for Covid-19 after “recent travel to the Myrtle Beach area,” according to a news release from the county’s health department posted Wednesday.
Preston County is a small, rural area with a population of just 33,432 residents, according to the US Census Bureau. As of Thursday, it has 29 confirmed cases and two deaths.
Officials have started an investigation and are working to identify those who have may been in close contact with the infected individuals.
“We would like to ask all Preston County residents that have traveled back from Myrtle Beach, any other beach, or any (crowded) vacation destination in the last 2 weeks to please keep other(s) in mind and self-quarantine for 14 days upon return,” the health department said in the news release.
Myrtle Beach reopened back in late April, with social distancing required at the time. But now, the Myrtle Beach City Government says social distancing is recommended and that masks are “encouraged,” according to a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Myrtle Beach has been seeing an upward trend in new Covid-19 cases recently, mirroring the increase seen across South Carolina, according to Myrtle Beach Director of Public Information Mark Kruea.
“If you plan on vacationing in Myrtle beach, bring your mask and your patience,” Kruea told CNN last week.
South Carolina is one of 10 states that are seeing their highest seven-day average of new coronavirus cases per day since the pandemic started months ago, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
The other states include Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas.
CNN’s Natasha Chen, Holly Yan and Madeline Holcombe contributed to this report.
