South Carolina adds more than 200 new coronavirus cases, total nears 6,500
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in South Carolina continues to rise as state health officials announced an additional 226 positive tests on Saturday, putting the overall total at 6,489.
Also on Saturday officials announced 11 new deaths in individuals with COVID-19, which is caused by the coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 267.
Richland County accounted for four of the deaths — three elderly individuals and one middle-aged. Deaths also occurred among elderly individuals in Edgefield, Florence, Greenville, Laurens, Lee and Lexington counties, while a middle-aged individual died in Sumter County.
Meanwhile, Lexington County saw the biggest jump in new cases with 43 — a more than 11% increase that put the county’s total number of cases at 414.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control also revised its estimate of the number of untested positive cases across the state, putting the total at 39,861 for 46,350 total. That would mean 86% of cases have not been tested and identified.
Saturday’s new numbers come one day after Gov. Henry McMaster announced his “home or work” order would be become voluntary and restaurants would be able to host diners in outdoor seating starting Monday. McMaster also lifted his executive order requiring visitors from coronavirus “hot spots” to self-quarantine for 14 days upon entering the state as he tries to restart the state’s economy, which has been hammered by the pandemic.
“I’m very proud of the way that our people have responded to this emergency, to this contagion,” said McMaster after announcing the moves. “Our state has done very well ... and we can depend on the common sense and the integrity, and the family nature of the people of South Carolina to do what we think is necessary. So we will be making those decisions as soon as we can, as quickly as we can, as we accelerate back, get our economy accelerating, where we all want to be and where we were before this contagion got here.”
State epidemiologist Linda Bell said Friday that the SC’s epidemic curve of new cases per day appears to be “beginning to level,” but she also said it is critical that people continue to follow social distancing and health guidelines from DHEC and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
As the state begins to reopen DHEC is focused on increased testing and contact tracing, Bell said. Since the coronavirus outbreak, DHEC has increased the number of employees in its contact tracing division from 20 to 200 — those individuals determine who has been in close contact with an infected person and encourage them to either be tested or isolated to curb the spread.
McMaster said that number of employees was “not enough.”
While the number of new cases per day appears to have plateaued, there has not be a steady decline over 14 days as cited in the White House’s guidelines for reopening the economy.
And while testing numbers have increased, according to the COVID Tracking Project, South Carolina still ranks in the bottom five of states nationally in tests per capita. An additional 2,237 tests were announced Saturday, the fourth consecutive day over 2,000.
NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES
Aiken (4)
Anderson (5)
Bamberg (2)
Barnwell (1)
Beaufort (1)
Charleston (3)
Chester (2)
Chesterfield (1)
Clarendon (4)
Darlington (5)
Dillon (13)
Dorchester (1)
Edgefield (2)
Fairfield (5)
Florence (4)
Georgetown (1)
Greenville (20)
Greenwood (4)
Kershaw (6)
Lee (2)
Lexington (43)
Marion (1)
Marlboro (3)
Newberry (1)
Orangeburg (4)
Richland (33)
Saluda (11)
Spartanburg (8)
Sumter (18)
Williamsburg (12)
York (5)
This story was originally published May 2, 2020 at 3:58 PM.
