SC coronavirus cases pass 7,500, 10 new deaths announced Saturday
Cases of COVID-19 in South Carolina hit 7,537 on Saturday as health officials announced 168 new positive tests.
Ten new deaths in individuals with the novel coronavirus were announced as well, bringing the state total to 330.
Of the 10 deaths, eight occurred in elderly individuals — two each from Lexington and Richland counties and one from Charleston, Clarendon, Greenville and Williamsburg counties. Two middle-aged individuals also died in Berkeley and Fairfield counties.
Richland County, which remains the lone county in the state with 1,000 cases, added 28 more Saturday while Greenville County added 43, bringing its total over 900.
Clarendon County remains the state leader in cases per capita and added four more Saturday.
Earlier projections from DHEC estimated that the state would see 1,050 cases from May 3-9. After six days of data, cases have reached a total of 919. By May 23, a total of 9,652 confirmed cases are anticipated.
Health officials say that the state’s epidemic curve, a measure of daily new cases, is leveling off — but they have stressed that the raw total of cases will likely increase as testing is expanded. DHEC is planning to nearly double the amount of testing by the end of May with a goal of testing 2% of South Carolina’s population each month. So far about 1.3% of the state’s residents have been tested.
Beginning Monday, DHEC will test all residents and staff at nursing homes, where more than 100 people have died and more than 1,000 have tested positive.
With the expected rise of total cases, officials have emphasized the state’s “positivity rate” — the percentage of positive cases among overall tests — as a key metric in assessing the spread of the virus.
As of Saturday labs across the state have finished 80,963 tests, for an overall positivity rate of 9.3%. Saturday’s positivity rate was 6.7%, according to DHEC numbers.
Even with increased testing, officials estimate they’ve only identified around 14% of the state’s total COVID-19 cases. According to updated data, DHEC estimates there are upwards of 46,000 unconfirmed positive cases in the state.
Along with increasing testing, though, state health officials are also ramping up contact tracing efforts. Currently DHEC has about 230 contact tracers; it hopes to hire about 1,000 more.
At the same time, Gov. Henry McMaster has said he is confident that the state is ready to reopen and has taken increasing steps to restart the economy.
After previously lifting his “work or home” order, halting restrictions on short-term rentals and a mandatory self-quarantine for tourists and allowing certain retail stores to reopen, McMaster announced Friday his plan to allow restaurants to open for limited dine-in service starting Monday. Restaurants must operate at 50% occupancy, and tables must be six to eight feet apart.
The governor also lifted previous restrictions on boating.
Still, DHEC officials and McMaster have recommended residents continue to practice social distancing as businesses reopen with a target date of June 16 for relaxing those recommendations. McMaster also said law enforcement will still be able to intervene if they see groups of three or more gathering in public.
NEW SC CORONAVIRUS CASES
- Aiken (4)
- Anderson (4)
- Bamberg (1)
- Barnwell (1)
- Berkeley (1)
- Calhoun (1)
- Charleston (3)
- Chesterfield (3)
- Clarendon (4)
- Darlington (2)
- Dillon (3)
- Edgefield (2)
- Fairfield (4)
- Florence (13)
- Georgetown (1)
- Greenville (43)
- Horry (5)
- Jasper (2)
- Kershaw (3)
- Lancaster (2)
- Lee (7)
- Lexington (9)
- Marion (3)
- Oconee (1)
- Pickens (4)
- Richland (28)
- Saluda (2)
- Spartanburg (4)
- Sumter (5)
- York (3)
This story was originally published May 9, 2020 at 4:03 PM.
