SC sees 64 new coronavirus cases, the lowest this month
South Carolina health officials counted 64 new cases of the coronavirus Monday, bringing the statewide total of identified patients to 4,439.
Monday’s case count is lower than every other day in April so far. More than 100 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified each day this month.
DHEC officials also recorded four additional deaths from the virus. In all, 124 people who have contracted COVID-19 have died in the Palmetto State.
Of the people who died, one was an elderly Lancaster County resident with underlying health conditions, one was an elderly Kershaw County resident with no underlying health conditions, one was a middle-aged Edgefield County resident with underlying health conditions and the last was a middle-aged Clarendon County resident with no underlying health conditions.
Clarendon County saw the largest increase in COVID-19 cases with eight. In Richland County, officials recorded four new cases, and in Lexington County, an additional four.
Friday, DHEC officials estimated that about two-thirds of patients who contracted the coronavirus have recovered.
But the picture painted by those statistics are misleading. DHEC officials estimated that, as of Monday, there were actually more than 31,700 cases of COVID-19 in South Carolina.
State epidemiologist Linda Bell said South Carolina should expect 750 new cases per week by early May. By May 9, the state should have a total of 6,953 cases.
Bell added that South Carolina may be nearing its peak in cases. She later added that the state has seen a leveling of the number of cases reported each day, but no consistent drop off.
“We’re still learning about this virus, and we don’t have a great deal of certainty about what to expect,” Bell said.
Last week, DHEC officials projected a peak around May 2, and predicted that 572 residents will have died after contracting the virus by Aug. 4.
The first coronavirus cases in South Carolina were identified March 6 in Kershaw and Charleston counties. State health officials have announced new cases nearly every day since, with more than 1,000 cases posted by the end of last month.
Case counts have fluctuated due to shortages in a chemical needed for COVID-19 testing. Despite shortages across the nation, cases in South Carolina have exceeded 100 cases a day nearly every day in April.
As of Monday, labs across the state have completed 41,277 coronavirus tests. DHEC’s lab was responsible for 12,248 of those tests, and 1,506 tests performed in the state’s lab have been positive.
The state may ramp up its testing efforts, though, after DHEC distributed 15 rapid testing machines to struggling areas across the state last week. Additionally, hospital systems are developing their own tests.
State officials have made plans to respond to the coronavirus, including goals to increase hospital capacity across the state by about 3,000 beds by early May. As of Monday, hospitals were at about 54.6% capacity, according to DHEC.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has also taken steps to slow the spread, including issuing a mandatory “home or work” order, closing schools through the end of April, closing dining rooms in restaurants, closing nonessential businesses 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.
But the governor is beginning to lighten restrictions across the state, including reopening beaches and several retail businesses, he announced Monday.
“I also remind those merchants and those customers that the order concerning social distancing is still in place,” McMaster said Monday, adding that there would still be restrictions on how many people are allowed in the stores.
This isn’t the governor’s first step in restoring normalcy. Thursday, McMaster reopened public waterway access points, though he cautioned that boaters should continue to practice social distancing.
McMaster has said he intends to restart the state’s economy by the end of June.
Bell said as stores across the state reopens, its important that people continue to practice social distancing.
New coronavirus cases
- Aiken (1)
- Anderson (2)
- Barnwell (1)
- Beaufort (1)
- Charleston (2)
- Cherokee (1)
- Clarendon (8)
- Darlington (5)
- Dillon (2)
- Florence (4)
- Greenville (5)
- Horry (1)
- Kershaw (3)
- Lexington (4)
- Marlboro (1)
- Orangeburg (1)
- Richland (4)
- Spartanburg (7)
- Sumter (3)
- Williamsburg (4)
- York (4)
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 4:25 PM.
