SC sees highest single-day death toll from coronavirus, 139 more cases
Wednesday marked a grim landmark in South Carolina’s fight to contain the coronavirus.
Twelve new deaths were announced by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control — the largest single-day increase in deaths so far. That brings the statewide death toll to 63.
Health officials also announced Wednesday 139 new coronavirus cases, bringing the S.C. total to 2,552.
The death count included another disturbing surprise. While a majority of fatalities have been in older residents, two South Carolinians whose deaths were announced Wednesday were middle aged — between 30 and 65 years old, according to DHEC. They were from Clarendon and Richland County.
The other South Carolinians who died were over the age of 65 and from Horry, Kershaw, Laurens, McCormick, Newberry, Richland and Spartanburg counties.
DHEC data released Wednesday also showed:
- Richland and Spartanburg counties reported the most deaths with three each.
- Richland County posted the largest increase in cases among counties with 32. In neighboring Lexington County, no new cases were identified.
The number of cases identified by DHEC is likely an incomplete count. According to DHEC estimates, there are likely close to 18,000 cases, about 85% of which have yet to be tested or identified.
The largest discrepancies are in the state’s rural counties, such as Dillon County, where experts believe about 97% of the counties cases have gone undiagnosed. In the state’s more populated counties that have better access to health care, like Richland and Greenville counties, the percentage of undiagnosed patients is between 81% and 84%.
In the Midlands, identified cases have spanned nearly every zip code in Richland and Lexington counties.
Backlogs at private testing labs across the state may be contributing to the discrepancy in the number of cases. As of Wednesday, labs across the state have completed a total of 24,634 tests. DHEC’s lab alone has finished more than 8,523 tests, 1,000 of which have been positive.
DHEC officials said Wednesday that the lab has enough chemicals to continue testing for three to five days. In past weeks, DHEC has run out of some chemicals, causing a backlog.
Some local officials are scrambling to expand testing. City of Columbia officials have signed a deal with a Greenville medical firm to conduct COVID-19 tests for first responders and frontline city employees. The contract also allows the company to test residents if the city experiences a localized outbreak.
The number of cases across the state could increase strain on S.C. hospitals, which are already short on supplies and staff. As of Wednesday, hospitals across the state were at 52.7% capacity, DHEC officials said.
Monday, state leaders announced a plan to increase the number of hospital beds by early May, adding about 3,000 beds to the state’s existing 6,000 ones.
DHEC officials have also received two shipments from the national stockpile of medical supplies and expect a third shipment.
Government officials have taken other steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has also issued a series of orders, including a mandatory “home or work” order, an order closing schools through the end of April, closing dining rooms in restaurants, closing nonessential businesses, cutting off access points to state beaches and waterways and allowing police to break up groups of three or more.
McMaster also issued an order Wednesday that would allow furloughed workers to qualify for unemployment benefits.
New cases
- Abbeville: 1
- Aiken: 4
- Anderson: 10
- Beaufort: 5
- Berkeley: 1
- Charleston: 3
- Chester: 1
- Chesterfield: 4
- Clarendon: 4
- Colleton: 2
- Dorchester: 3
- Florence: 2
- Georgetown: 2
- Greenville: 9
- Greenwood: 2
- Horry: 7
- Kershaw: 6
- Lancaster: 2
- Laurens: 2
- Lee: 3
- Marlboro: 2
- Newberry: 2
- Oconee: 2
- Orangeburg: 1
- Richland: 32
- Spartanburg: 6
- Sumter: 12
- Union: 1
- Williamsburg: 1
- York: 7
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 3:34 PM.
