SC coronavirus cases increase by 276. Two more die from virus Thursday
Two hundred and seventy-six more South Carolinians tested positive for the coronavirus Thursday, bringing the statewide total to 3,931 cases.
Officials with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control also announced two more have died after contracting COVID-19, increasing the death total to 109.
The patients who died were both residents of Lee County and over the age of 65. Neither had any known underlying health conditions.
Lexington County posted the largest increase of recorded cases Thursday, with 52 new residents testing positive. In neighboring Richland County, 29 residents tested positive.
“We’re calling on everyone to stay home,” state epidemiologist Linda Bell said.
Health officials say 86% of S.C. coronavirus cases have not been identified or tested, meaning the true tally is more than 28,000 cases.
That number is expected to climb higher. South Carolina will see its peak number of identified cases around May 2. DHEC also predicts that 572 residents will die by Aug. 4.
Each day brings new accounts of lives lost, including six in Kershaw County who died after contacting the respiratory illness at a funeral last month.
As of Thursday, labs across the state have finished 36,284 coronavirus tests. At DHEC’s lab, officials have done 11,271 tests, 1,370 of which have been positive.
Health officials are scrambling to prepare for the onslaught and save lives.
Wednesday, 15 rapid testing machines were distributed to struggling regions of the state. The tests, which can return a positive COVID-19 result in minutes, need a chemical that is currently in high demand, which could impede their use.
In addition, health care systems across the state are developing their own tests, Bell said.
State officials are also working to increase the number of S.C. hospital beds by one third, bringing the statewide total to 9,000 and retrofitting shuttered hospitals and other large venues to handle hospital overflow.
“I want to thank the hospitals for the great work they’re doing,” S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster said during a news conference Thursday, applauding health care facilities for halting elective surgeries to make space for coronavirus patients.
Several hospitals have furloughed non-frontline employees as the pandemic cuts into their bottom lines. Last week, Prisma Health furloughed or reduced hours for 3,900 members of its 30,000 person workforce.
McMaster also announced his intention to restart the state’s economy by the end of June. He plans to lay out details of the economic recovery plan, dubbed “Accelerate SC,” next week.
“I assure you, we are going to find the best ways to do it quickly and safely,” McMaster said.
McMaster also issued an executive order Thursday to reopen public waterway access points. He cautioned though, that boaters should continue to practice social distancing.
The first cases of coronavirus in South Carolina were identified March 6 in Kershaw and Charleston counties. New cases have popped up nearly every day since. The state surpassed 1,000 cases by the end of March.
Case counts released each day have fluctuated as labs struggled to deal with shortages of chemicals needed for testing, but daily case counts have continued to exceed 100 cases a day each day this month.
As of Thursday, hospitals across the state were at 55.3% capacity, DHEC officials said. Leaders across the state have developed a plan to add about 3,000 additional beds across the state by early May.
Government officials have taken their own steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
McMaster 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 (3)
- Anderson (7)
- Beaufort (3)
- Berkeley (16)
- Charleston (23)
- Cherokee (3)
- Chesterfield (1)
- Clarendon (6)
- Darlington (5)
- Dillon (3)
- Dorchester (1)
- Fairfield (1)
- Florence (16)
- Georgetown (1)
- Greenville (33)
- Greenwood (12)
- Hampton (3)
- Horry (5)
- Kershaw (4)
- Laurens (4)
- Lee (1)
- Lancaster (2)
- Lexington (52)
- Marlboro (4)
- McCormick (1)
- Newberry (6)
- Orangeburg (2)
- Pickens (2)
- Richland (29)
- Spartanburg (8)
- Sumter (7)
- York (12)
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 5:08 PM.
