SC coronavirus death toll surpasses 400, case count hits 9,175
The coronavirus death toll in South Carolina surpassed 400 after state health officials announced Wednesday that eight more people died after contracting the virus.
S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control officials also identified 125 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total of confirmed cases to 9,175.
All eight of Wednesday’s deaths were recorded in elderly individuals, with four in Colleton County. Clarendon, Fairfield, Lexington and Richland counties all recorded deaths as well.
Richland County, which continues to lead the state in total cases, had the biggest raw increase in Wednesday’s updated numbers, adding 17 new cases. Greenville and York counties reported 10 or more, and 31 of 46 counties reported at least one new case.
All those numbers, however, reflect just a portion of the pandemic across the state, DHEC officials estimate. Roughly 86% of South Carolinians who have contracted the coronavirus have not been tested or identified, officials estimate. As of Wednesday, they projected that more than 65,500 people have actually contracted the virus.
DHEC projects to see a steady decrease in the weekly number of coronavirus cases. Last week, officials counted 1,220 cases. They expect that number to drop to 1,024 by the end of May. Officials also project the state’s total of case count to reach 10,890 by the month’s end, according to projections.
Experts have warned of a second wave of cases with businesses reopening.
So far, restrictions have been lifted on some retailers, beaches, boating, short-term rentals and restaurants. Close-contact businesses, including hair salons, gyms and pools, were also allowed to reopen. Gov. Henry McMaster on Wednesday also lifted restrictions on some entertainment and recreational businesses, including youth and adult sports, zoos, museums, amusement parks. Those activities will be able to resume May 30.
State health officials and McMaster continue to recommend residents practice social distancing as businesses reopen. Both McMaster and Bell have expressed concerns about residents not following those recommendations, though McMaster has also said the recommendations weren’t mandatory and has cited citizens’ voluntary compliance as a reason in moving forward with reopenings.
“If the people follow the guidelines and follow the advice in this reopening ... we ought to be in good shape, and that’s what we’re counting on,” the governor said.
But in order to keep residents safe as the economy reopens, DHEC needs to increase testing and contract tracing, health experts have argued.
DHEC previously announced plans to test about 2% of the state’s population in both May and June. State epidemiologist Linda Bell said the agency is on track to meet that goal, with labs finishing about 65,000 of 110,000 tests as of Wednesday, though the mark is far short of where other officials say the state needs to be.
State health officials have tested all residents and staff at 74 nursing homes across the state, one of their initiatives when it comes to expanding testing, Bell added.
Labs across the state have completed a total of 138,238 tests since March, when the first COVID-19 cases were reported in South Carolina. On Wednesday, the percentage of positive results among all tests hit 5.5%, the highest in a week — nearly the same percentage as last week.
On the contact tracing side, DHEC has bulked their staff up from 20 contact tracers to 380. They also contracted with private companies to hire 1,400 more.
“The contact tracing has been very successful,” Bell said. “ ... We have done this throughout this outbreak for every case, every reported case of COVID-19 that we could identify, that we could find. Those individuals are interviewed and they’re asked, confidentially, about who they might have come in close contact with. And then we follow up with those close contacts, we don’t say in what setting they may have been exposed, but we provide recommendations to them about what they can do to monitor or symptoms and prevent spread.”
Hospitals across the state also have been impacted by the coronavirus. About 70.41% of hospital beds in the state are currently occupied, and 414 are being used by patients who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or who are suspected to have it.
On Tuesday, DHEC officials also estimated that about 85% of those infected have recovered.
This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 6:05 PM.
