With limited data and ever-changing guidance about the novel coronavirus and its threats, South Carolina’s health care industry is left to make its own decisions about how to handle waste created by the pandemic.

Some have decided to take extra precautions, while others are sticking to federal standards.

Thirty years ago, Congress allowed a little-known law monitoring the disposal and transportation of medical waste to lapse, instead putting the onus on state regulators to hash out their own management systems….

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Lyrics:

Look to the day when the world seems new again:
Morning so fresh you could touch the sky;
The earth smells sweet and ev’ry flower looks bright,
Shining in a dewy light as you wander by.
Taking the time to enjoy each moment;
Tasting the fruits spread along your way,
Knowing there’s time to spare, Dreams you can dream and share:
Look to the day, look to the day.

Look to the day when the earth is green again:
Promise of spring after winter’s sleep.
The sounds of life returning fill the air,
Music that’s forever there for your heart to keep.
Deep in the earth lay the seed of life renewed,
Quiet and strong till the time of spring:
Life in each bud and shoot, Life in each flower and fruit,
Look to that day when earth shall sing.

Look to the light that will drive out darkness;
Look to the hope that will conquer fear.
God’s strength uphold us till the fight is won,
Till we see our task is done when the day is here.
Look for that day when there shall be no more pain;
Sorrow and sighing shall pass away.
Pray for the day to come, Trust that the day will come,
Look to that day, look to the day.

Lord, we give thanks for the gifts of life and health;
Plant a new seed in our hearts, we pray:
Help us to see, O Lord, How it could be, O Lord;
Look to the day, look to that day, look to the day, look to that day.

The coronavirus pandemic ground the U.S. economy to a near halt in March and April. But in the last couple of weeks, many company executives and investors across industries say they are seeing small signs business is picking up again. At the very least, there is evidence the sharp downturn has hit bottom.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said more people have requested rides in recent weeks. Car sales have started to rebound, according to data from J.D. Power. And some retailers, including Costco and CVS Health, said foot traffic is increasing at stores.

But the toll of the pandemic is large, and it will make recovery complex. As the economy reopens in some states, people are slowly returning to stores, restaurants and other businesses — but that comes with risk of another outbreak.

More than 80,000 Americans have died after contracting Covid-19, according to data compiled by NBC News. In some parts of the country, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are still climbing. With no vaccine or treatment, people may still be reluctant to go to public places.

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In many industries business Sentiment is improving @CNBC https://t.co/O9zDbcyTpc

— Bart van de Ven (@BartAccuro) May 11, 2020

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Almighty God,
who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
grant that, as by your grace going before us
you put into our minds good desires,
so by your continual help
we may bring them to good effect;
through Jesus Christ our risen Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

This unfinished Michelangelo is one painting telling the story of Easter in the Gallery: http://t.co/Po1mVqy6qk pic.twitter.com/TOYBdRrimD

— National Gallery (@NationalGallery) April 5, 2015

MARGARET BRENNAN: And you are looking at mobility through tracking cell phone data. Is this mobility because of loosened restrictions or is it just quarantine fatigue and people are going out and about more than they should?

CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, M.D.: You know, I think it is a bit of both. We’re seeing increases in mobility, even in anticipation of the relaxation of social distancing. But there’s definitely a correlation. The places that are taking off the social distancing mandate, the bump in mobility appears to be larger. So somewhere like Georgia, which was one of the first, we’re seeing, is in that category of– of a pretty big increase. So it’s definitely a mixture of both, we believe.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, we spoke just before you with one of the White House economic advisers who said one of the reasons they’re waiting on more emergency financial aid is because they want to see what happens in the states as they pull back restrictions and whether that leads to a new outbreak of the disease, as Kevin Hassett put it. Do you have any indication that that is happening?

CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, M.D.: Well, I think that the big challenge here is that when we model the relationship between mobility and transmission, most of the data that’s informing that is coming from when people reduce their mobility and we saw a reduction in transmission, you know, namely social distancing works. Now that we’re coming out, the big question mark is will people’s own behavior, acting responsibly, wearing a mask, avoiding physical– coming into physical close contact, will that be enough to counteract the effects of rising mobility? And so we really are going to have to wait and see. Our suspicion is that there will be about ten days from now in these places that have had these big increases in mobility, we are expecting to see a jump in cases.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And what– what places? What are the potential hotspots in the next ten days?

CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, M.D.: Well, as I mentioned a moment ago, the big increases in mobility, there’s five states at the top. Some of those have had modest epidemic so far. So they may not be huge numbers. But, you know, the top five in terms of increasing mobility are Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Georgia. But there’s another ten states or more where there’s been a ten to fifteen percentage point increase of mobility. So pretty– pretty diverse. So we may see quite a lot of states tipping towards increasing cases in the next two weeks.

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NEWS: New #coronavirus models from @IHME_UW show 137,184 deaths projected by the beginning of August, IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray tells @margbrennan on @facethenation pic.twitter.com/ujPowbdMvV

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 10, 2020

There is no bigger rebellion or miracle in the history of these United States than that of the black Christians who saw in the very book used to justify their oppression a testimony to a God who disagreed. There is no greater audacity than their use of that Bible to construct, almost from scratch, a Christian anthropology that demanded a recognition of black worth. That struggle continues.

In the end, the question is not whether this country will finally fully value black lives. America doesn’t get a vote in the matter. It lacks the competence. The question is whether this country will continue to find itself in the dangerous place of having policies, customs and laws that oppose the will of God.

My work, as a minister of the gospel, is not to fix America, but to remind it of what it is not. It is not the kingdom of God, our great hope. Indeed, far too often God has looked upon us and our notions of justice and found America wanting.

Alongside the litany of suffering that marks the black experience, there is a chant that grows in power in times of crisis. It is in the spirituals and the blues, in hip-hop, soul and gospel music. It is in black poetry, fiction and film. This is a chorus of defiant joy, a refusal to let fear stifle hope.

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“My work, as a minister of the gospel, is not to fix America, but to remind it of what it is not,” writes @esaumccaulley on the death of Ahmaud Arbery. “It is not the kingdom of God, our great hope. Those titles belong to one greater.” https://t.co/zyGKqpkPmC

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) May 10, 2020

You can listen directly there and you may also suffer through the video version there (the sermon starts at about 32:40 in).

O Lord, we most humbly beseech thee to give us grace not only to be hearers of the Word, but also doers of the same; not only to love, but also to live thy gospel; not only to profess, but also to practise thy blessed commandments, unto the honour of thy holy name.

But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

–1 Thessalonians 4:13-18