South Carolina surpasses 20,000 coronavirus cases
South Carolina surpassed 20,000 coronavirus cases Wednesday after Department of Health and Environmental Control officials announced that 577 more people have contracted the virus.
State health officials also said 10 more people died after contracting COVID-19, bringing the statewide death toll up to 617.
South Carolina surpassed 10,000 coronavirus cases on May 24. In less than a month, the number of cases doubled.
What’s new?
DHEC officials announced Wednesday they would begin releasing the number of probable cases and death each day, following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A probable case is someone who has not received lab test results, but has coronavirus symptoms or a positive antibody test, according to DHEC’s definition. A probable death would be someone whose death certificate lists COVID-19 as a cause of death or a contributing factor, but has not received a lab test.
As of Wednesday, state health officials reported zero probable deaths, but five probable cases.
Which counties were affected?
Nine of the South Carolinians who died were elderly. Two came from Lexington County, and the others were from Beaufort, Berkeley, Colleton, Greenville, Horry, Lancaster and York counties.
The last person was middle-aged and hailed from Charleston County.
As far as case increases, Greenville County continued to lead the state in new cases with 77 reported Wednesday.
Locally, Richland County saw 57 new cases, and Lexington County saw 35.
Are all cases accounted for?
DHEC officials estimate that as much as 86% of COVID-19 patients have not been tested or identified.
On Wednesday, they estimated that in all, about 146,800 people across the state likely have had the virus.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As COVID-19 spreads, the number of the state’s 10,500 or so hospital beds that are filled by people with the virus increases.
Wednesday, the state broke a new record for beds occupied by coronavirus patients. Of the 7,411 occupied beds, 607 were being used by patients who were diagnosed with or suspected of having the coronavirus.
As of Wednesday, hospitals across the state were at 70.6% capacity.
Local hospitals have even less bed space. In Richland County, 72.1% of beds are in use, and in Lexington County, that numbers falls at 78.3%.
In April and May, the number of hospitalized patients averaged at about 411, and did not surpass 500. In eight of the last ten days, the number of COVID-19 patients, confirmed or suspected, who were hospitalized exceeded 500.
DHEC officials have warned that an uptick in coronavirus cases may lead to an increase in hospitalizations weeks later.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
South Carolina is seeing an increase in coronavirus activity. Last week, DHEC recorded daily case counts between 434 to 802.
Those numbers showed an increase of hundreds of cases from the daily case counts in March, April and early May. From mid-April to mid-May, health officials saw an average of about 166 cases per day. From June 7 to June 14, the state saw an average of 619 new cases per day.
DHEC officials point to the percentage of tests that are positive as an indicator of the virus’ spread in the state. Over the last 28 days, that percentage has gone up.
On Wednesday, DHEC officials announced that 13.1% of tests were positive, a number similar to what state health officials saw on days in March and early April, when cases were increasing rapidly, but officials were doing less testing. Eight of the last nine days have seen percent of positive tests rise above 10%.
At its lowest point, the percent of positive tests fell between 2-4% on average.
Why are case numbers up?
DHEC officials have said the increase in coronavirus cases could be due to more people leaving their homes and fewer people wearing masks and practicing social distancing. They especially voiced this concern around Memorial Day weekend, which drove crowds to entertainment and tourist areas.
Starting April 20, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has gradually reopened businesses, including restaurants, retailers, beaches and close contact businesses such as gyms and salons. The Columbia Republican pushed to open some attractions as well by Memorial Day.
The governor has also said that he does not plan to reimpose or add new restrictions on businesses or require residents to wear masks, adding that it’s South Carolinians’ individual responsibility to practice social distancing.
How does DHEC’s testing plan impact case numbers?
DHEC officials have said their increased testing strategy could also be driving up the number of cases identified each day.
The state health agency 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 304,431 tests.
But while cases have increased dramatically, the number of daily tests has stayed relatively steady since the week of May 10, completing about 35,000 tests a week.
What about nursing homes?
Nursing home deaths — 291 — account for about half of South Carolina’s total death toll as of Tuesday. Officials have also identified a total of 1,591 residents who contracted COVID-19 and 803 staff members.
South Carolina updates its data on nursing homes every Tuesday and Friday.
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 4:05 PM.
