More than 1,300 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in SC, with five new deaths
South Carolina continues to report a surge of coronavirus cases, with 1,366 new infections identified Sunday, according to state health officials.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control also announced five new deaths related to the virus, bringing the state’s death toll from COVID-19 to 712. Overall, 33,221 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in South Carolina since testing began in March, DHEC said.
Charleston County reported the most new cases Sunday with 239 new coronavirus cases. Greenville and Horry counties had 194 and 185 cases, respectively. Greenville County has the most overall cases in South Carolina with 4,896 positive tests, followed by Charleston County’s 3,660, according to DHEC.
In the Midlands, Richland County reported 82 new cases, and Lexington County added 54, health officials said. Overall, there have been 3,344 confirmed cases of COVID-19 Richland County, and 1,965 positive tests in Lexington County.
Of the new deaths, four were reported in elderly people from Charleston, Florence, Lexington and Richland counties and one middle-aged individual from Laurens County.
HOW ARE HOSPITALS BEING IMPACTED?
The number of COVID-19 patients in South Carolina’s hospital beds increased to 954, out of 7,488 total in use. That figure has increased sharply throughout this week — on Tuesday, coronavirus hospitalizations shot up by nearly 100 in a day.
Statewide, hospitals are at nearly 71.23% capacity as of Sunday, but Midlands hospitals have reported higher percentages.
SC Gov. Henry McMaster said Friday the state is prepared to implement a plan to create new hospital beds should cases continue to surge, and, if necessary, he may require medical facilities to postpone elective procedures again if the state needs more hospital beds.
ARE ALL CASES ACCOUNTED FOR?
Health officials have continually estimated that as many as 86% of all COVID-19 cases in the state have gone undiagnosed or untested. As of Sunday, that would put the total number of people who have likely contracted the virus since March at 227,500.
State health officials have also started to track what they consider to be probable cases or probable deaths.
A probable case is someone who has not received lab test results but has virus symptoms or a positive antibody test.
A probable death is someone whose death certificate lists COVID-19 as a cause of death or a contributing factor but has not gotten a lab test.
As of Sunday, there have been 99 reported probable cases and four probable deaths.
HOW IS COVID-19 TRENDING IN SC?
The Palmetto State has consistently seen record daily coronavirus case counts over the last three weeks, one indicator that the virus’ activity is increasing dramatically.
This week, DHEC reported no less than 892 new cases every day and ranging up to 1,599 Saturday. Last week, the state’s daily case counts fell between 577 and 1,157. DHEC is projecting 7,159 new cases of the coronavirus for the upcoming week.
State health officials have also said they use the percentage of tests that turn up positive to gauge the coronavirus’ rate of spread.
Over the past 28 days, that average has risen roughly 10 percent. For the past week, the percentage has ranged from 12.6% to 20.1% on Sunday. In May, at its lowest point, the percentage of positive tests fell between 2-4% on average.
WHY ARE CASE NUMBERS UP?
Health officials say the surge in daily case counts is a result of people not practicing safety precautions, including wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
“Quite frankly, it’s troubling that not enough people are taking this pandemic seriously,” state epidemiologist Linda Bell said Wednesday, adding that a statewide mask requirement could help to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Since April 20, the governor has gradually reopened businesses, including restaurants, retailers, beaches, gyms and salons. And this week, he said he will not reimpose those restrictions.
McMaster also said Friday he has no plans to lift restrictions on nightclubs, concert venues, theaters, spectator sports.
Instead, the state has started a new program that offers restaurants decals to show they are following precautions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and DHEC.
McMaster has also said he will not issue a statewide order mandating the use of face masks, but a number of local officials have taken that step on their own, including the cities of Columbia, Charleston and Greenville. Myrtle Beach is voting on this week about implementing a mask ordinance.
HOW IS DHEC’S TESTING PLAN IMPACTING CASE NUMBERS?
An expansion of testing could be driving up the numbers, health officials said, but it’s not the sole reason.
COVID-19 testing was relatively steady from May 10 to June 13, when labs across the state completed about 35,000 tests a week, even as case counts rose. Since then, labs have run more than 100,000 tests across two weeks.
All told, the statewide test total is over 398,625 since March.
Health officials plan to reach 165,000 tests per month by 2021.
This story was originally published June 28, 2020 at 12:14 PM.
