COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The spread of the new virus has prompted South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to hold a meeting Monday of a state committee brought together when there is a public health threat.
It will be the second meeting of the state’s Public Health Emergency Plan Committee and is being held at the state’s emergency command center south of Columbia.
Officials stressed no cases of the virus have been diagnosed in South Carolina, but said it is important to be prepared. The U.S. reported its first death from the virus Saturday in Washington state.
The public health committee includes all the state’s emergency agencies, a private doctor who is an expert in infectious diseases, a hospital official, a coroner and several others.
Along with a Jan. 31 meeting of the committee, McMaster said he has spoken to hospital executives, people who speak on behalf of police agencies and colleges and the state Board of Health and Environmental Control.
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