SC COVID-19 death toll hits 500. DHEC reports 297 new infections
South Carolina’s coronavirus death toll reached 500 Monday after state health officials announced that six more people have died after contracting the virus.
All six were elderly. Colleton and Fairfield counties saw two deaths each, and Horry and Lexington counties had one.
Department of Health and Environmental Control officials also announced that 297 additional people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, bringing the statewide total number of cases to 12,148.
Greenville County saw the largest increase in cases with 73. Locally, both Richland and Lexington counties saw 13 new cases each.
But state health officials estimate that as many as 86% of coronavirus cases in South Carolina have gone unidentified. As of Monday, DHEC estimated that 84,700 people have had the virus across the state.
South Carolina saw its first coronavirus cases in March, with cases in Kershaw and Charleston counties. Since then, 85% of people who contracted COVID-19 recovered.
During the last few weeks, DHEC’s data has shown an increase in coronavirus activity. The percent of tests that turn up positive, the weekly number of tests and the seven day average number of cases have all increased. Over the weekend, South Carolina saw record numbers of cases.
State health officials project that the state will see an increase in positive tests each week until at least the second week of June.
The increase may be due in part to DHEC’s new testing strategy. The agency wants to test about 2% of South Carolina’s population in June, and they completed more than 110,000 tests in May.
In all, labs across the state have done 210,826 tests.
Hospitals have also seen an increase in patients as the virus spreads. As of Monday, 63.74% of hospital beds across the state were in use, with 450 of them being used by coronavirus patients or those who are suspected of having it.
Some experts say the increase in cases could be due to more South Carolinians going out into the public, which could lead to later COVID-19 outbreaks.
Since April 20, Gov. Henry McMaster has been incrementally reopening businesses, starting with retail businesses and restaurants and adding close-contact businesses such as salons and gyms, where customers and staff sometimes are in close contact, and attractions. However, both he and DHEC officials have continued to urge residents to practice social distancing.
DHEC has taken other steps to help with a safe reopening, including increasing their contact tracing staff from 20 to 380. They’ve also contracted with private companies to hire 1,400 more tracers, who work to contact anyone who came near someone who tests positive for COVID-19.
New coronavirus cases
Abbeville (2)
Aiken (9)
Allendale (1)
Anderson (2)
Barnwell (2)
Beaufort (4)
Berkeley (2)
Calhoun (1)
Charleston (19)
Cherokee (4)
Chester (3)
Chesterfield (4)
Colleton (3)
Darlington (4)
Dillon (1)
Dorchester (5)
Fairfield (4)
Florence (20)
Georgetown (3)
Greenville (73)
Greenwood (5)
Hampton (1)
Horry (22)
Kershaw (6)
Lancaster (5)
Laurens (1)
Lee (2)
Lexington (13)
Marion (2)
Marlboro (2)
Oconee (4)
Orangeburg (12)
Pickens (6)
Richland (13)
Saluda (3)
Spartanburg (20)
Sumter (2)
Williamsburg (2)
York (10)
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 3:18 PM.
