Hilton Head area hospitals to scale back COVID-19 testing as demand drops. Here’s when
Hilton Head and Coastal Carolina hospitals are scaling back their free COVID-19 testing in March due to a recent drop in demand and a seemingly positive change in local virus data.
The two medical centers will offer drive-thru testing only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon beginning March 1. The testing will be cut on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The remaining drive-thru testing will still be free and won’t require a doctor’s note. The testing locations aren’t moving, either.
The two hospitals made the changes because of a drop in demand and a recent decline in the percentage of positive tests around the Lowcountry, according to a news release.
DHEC, though, updated how it calculates coronavirus positivity rates earlier this year and that resulted in a significant percentage drop statewide.
Regardless, local COVID-19 trends have been improving. And the demand for testing recently dropped elsewhere in the state as South Carolina’s most recent COVID-19 surge continued to abate throughout February.
Prisma Health is also reducing its testing hours in March, the health care system announced Friday. Prisma Health Richland Hospital has shuttered its testing site at the Columbia Place Mall and will reduce drive-thru testing to three days a week from five.
