There are plenty of numbers available that show the troubling point that South Carolina has reached in the COVID-19 pandemic. On Aug. 11, the state surpassed 10,000 deaths from the virus. Case numbers are high, and data from the Medical University of South Carolina show the aggressive and more highly transmissible Delta strain now accounts for more than 92 percent of positive tests. But sometimes — perhaps especially now, months after coronavirus vaccines became available and gave people hope that a return to normalcy could be near — it can be difficult to understand the grim reality behind those figures. Earlier this month, projects reporter Jennifer Berry Hawes and photographer Gavin McIntyre visited the intensive care unit at a local hospital and saw firsthand what doctors, nurses and COVID patients are up against right now.This week, they shared what they heard and saw there, what frustrated nurses and doctors had to say about what they describe as a preventable surge and the reason why some patients said they had a message they wanted to share.More coverage: As COVID-19 cases rise, hospital workers (and their patients) enter a grim new realitySC tops 10,000 COVID-19 deaths as health official says she’s ‘more concerned’ than ever As delta variant engulfs SC, disease experts eye COVID’s other strains, including lambdaVisit our COVID-19 dashboard.

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