SC breaks coronavirus record second day in a row with 770 new cases
South Carolina saw yet another considerable increase in coronavirus cases Friday after Department of Health and Environmental Control announced that 770 more people tested positive for the virus, setting a new single day increase record.
That brings the statewide total number of cases up to 17,170.
Thursday, South Carolina broke it’s single day increase record with 687 cases. In one day, the state outpaced that by a little less than 100 cases.
Greenville County, a hot spot for the virus, saw the largest increase in cases with 142. Locally, officials found 73 new cases in Richland County and 61 in Lexington County.
State health officials also announced that five additional people died after contracting COVID-19, bringing South Carolina’s death toll up to 593.
The five who died were elderly, and came from Aiken, Charleston, Lexington, Orangeburg and Richland counties.
But DHEC officials estimate that they have not tested or identified about 86% of COVID-19 patients across the state. As of Friday, that means that about 122,600 South Carolinians likely contracted the virus.
State epidemiologist Linda Bell expressed alarm over South Carolina’s rapidly increasing coronavirus activity during a press conference Wednesday after announcing the state has seen its third day with more than 500 cases over the last week.
“I have to say that today, I am more concerned about COVID-19 in South Carolina than I ever have been before,” state epidemiologist Linda Bell said.
From the number of cases per week to the percentage of tests that are positive, DHEC has seen a marked increase in virus activity over the last month.
Friday, 14.4% of COVID-19 tests were positive, matching what the state saw on an average day during March and April, when the state saw a rapid increase in coronavirus cases but were doing less testing.
As cases grow, so does the burden on South Carolina’s hospitals. Across the state, health care facilities have seen an increase in the number of patients who have or are suspected to have the virus over the last few days. For example, on Saturday, the state had 482 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, but that number increased to 541 by Tuesday.
According to DHEC, hospitals across the state were at 72.8% capacity Friday. About 512 of 7,614 occupied beds were being used by coronavirus patients.
DHEC officials have warned, though, that an uptick in coronavirus cases may lead to an increase in hospitalizations weeks later.
State health officials have said the increase in cases could be due to more people leaving their homes, and fewer wearing masks and practicing social distancing. Experts predicted those factors could lead to later outbreaks, a warning Bell echoed Wednesday.
Businesses across the state have been gradually reopening since April 20, when S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster began reopening businesses. The governor has made it clear, though, that despite the rise in cases, he does not plan to implement any new restrictions on businesses, instead saying that its South Carolinians’ individual responsibility to practice social distancing.
McMaster and officials from DHEC, the S.C. Hospital Association, the S.C. Medical Association and S.C. Office of Rural Health all urged residents of the state to practice social distancing.
State health officials have also said that their increased testing strategy could also be driving up the number of cases identified each day. DHEC set a goal of testing about 2% of the state’s population in June, a goal they met in May.
Since March, labs have completed 272,128 tests.
But while cases have increased drastically, the the number of daily tests has stayed relatively steady since the week of May 10.
This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 4:08 PM.
