SC coronavirus cases surpass 3,000 as death toll grows to 72
The number of S.C. corornavirus cases swelled above 3,000 Friday as South Carolina officials frantically worked to combat the potentially lethal virus.
Five more South Carolinians died Friday after contracting the coronavirus, and 274 more cases were identified, according to officials with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The death toll is now 72 and the statewide case load is 3,065. But health officials warn that about 85 percent of cases have not been identified, particularly in rural areas where access to health care and testing is difficult.
“This virus, as we know, is widespread in our state and our communities,” said DHEC physician Brannon Traxler.
While the state’s elderly have proven particularly vulnerable to the virus, others are losing their lives too.
Three of the South Carolinians who died Friday were middle aged — between 30 and 60 years old — with underlying health conditions, DHEC reported. They lived in Berkeley, Florence and Greenville counties. The other two were elderly residents of Greenville County and also had underlying conditions.
Friday, DHEC officials renewed their calls for residents to continue to social distance. Traxler asked that those celebrating Easter over the weekend stay home, attend church services remotely and gather with family virtually rather than in person.
“People in our community are getting sick and even dying from this illness,” Traxler said.
Overall, Greenville County saw the largest increase in cases with 54 on Friday. In Richland County, cases increased by 35, and in neighboring Lexington County, officials reported 23 new cases.
Despite the growing number of identified cases, DHEC officials doubt they have accounted for every COVID-19 case in the state. As of Friday, officials estimated that there were more than 21,000 cases.
Labs across the state have completed 28,183 tests for COVID-19. At DHEC’s lab, 1,125 of the 9,489 tests performed by Thursday have been positive.
DHEC officials are working to get a testing apparatus that would allow tests to come back quicker, said Nick Davidson, DHEC’s acting director of public health
The continually increasing number of coronavirus cases will likely strain S.C. hospitals, which, as of Friday, were at 52.7% capacity. State leaders have developed a plan to add about 3,000 additional beds across the state by early May to the existing 6,000 ones.
DHEC officials have also received two shipments from the national stockpile of medical supplies and expect a third shipment.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has taken several steps to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Thus far, he has 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 executive order to allow furloughed workers to qualify for unemployment benefits.
New coronavirus cases
- Aiken: 6
- Allendale: 2
- Anderson: 4
- Barnwell: 1
- Beaufort: 2
- Berkeley: 6
- Charleston: 15
- Cherokee: 3
- Chester: 1
- Chesterfield: 1
- Clarendon: 5
- Darlington: 2
- Dillion: 2
- Dorchester: 7
- Edgefield: 4
- Fairfield: 1
- Florence: 11
- Georgetown: 3
- Greenville: 54
- Greenwood: 1
- Hampton: 1
- Horry: 18
- Kershaw: 7
- Lancaster: 10
- Laurens: 2
- Lee: 3
- Lexington: 23
- Marlboro: 1
- Newberry: 2
- Orangeburg: 2
- Pickens: 5
- Richland: 35
- Spartanburg: 11
- Sumter: 16
- Union: 1
- Williamsburg: 1
- York: 5
This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 3:52 PM.
