SC reports new COVID-19 daily record with more than 1,700 cases
South Carolina logged 1,741 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, breaking the state’s previous daily high and bringing the total of confirmed cases to 36,297 since March, when health officials announced the state’s first outbreak.
The case numbers mark the 10th day out of the last 12 that daily coronavirus case numbers have exceeded 1,000.
And an additional 19 South Carolinians have died after contracting the virus, bringing the state’s death toll from COVID-19 to 735. Tuesday marked the second highest death toll since March.
Midlands counties of Richland and Lexington were among the counties with the most new cases.
Which counties were affected?
On Tuesday, Charleston County once again led the state with the highest number of confirmed virus cases at 375.
The coastal county was followed by Horry County, home to Myrtle Beach, with 170 confirmed cases.
Coming in at third was Richland County with 137 cases, and Lexington County had 100 cases, the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control reported.
Charleston and Spartanburg counties also logged the most deaths — three each — on Tuesday. Two people died in Florence County.
Aiken, Berkeley, Dillon, Edgefield, Greenville, Horry, Lexington, McCormick, Orangeburg, Pickens and Richland counties each had one reported death each.
How are hospitals being impacted?
More South Carolinians are being hospitalized as a result of COVID-19, data shows.
On Tuesday, 1,021 of the state’s 7,620 hospital beds are occupied by patients who have contracted coronavirus.
Statewide, nearly 72% of hospital beds are in use.
Locally, hospitals are in worse shape.
For example, in Richland County, nearly 74% of hospital beds are occupied and almost 83% occupied in Lexington County.
Gov. Henry McMaster assured South Carolinians last week that the state is ready to implement a hospital plan to open up more bed space should hospitals become overburdened. Should that be the case, the governor also said he may require medical facilities to again postpone elective procedures.
Are all cases accounted for?
No.
State health officials say they estimate that as many as 86% of South Carolinians who have COVID-19 are undiagnosed or untested.
On Tuesday, DHEC calculated that as many as 259,264 people have likely contracted the virus since March.
Beyond confirmed cases, the state’s health agency also now tracks what they consider to be probable cases or probable deaths.
A probable case is a person who has not received lab test results but has virus symptoms or a positive antibody test. A probable death is a person who has not gotten a lab test but whose death certificate lists COVID-19 as a cause of death or as a contributing factor.
Health officials identified two new probable cases and two new probable deaths on Tuesday.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Over the last three weeks, South Carolina has recorded daily coronavirus case counts — an indicator that health officials say shows the virus’ widespread activity in the state is increasing.
In the past week, daily case counts ranged from 890 cases to nearly 1,600.
Earlier in June, daily case counts ranged between 577 and 1,157.
The number of people being tested daily and showing positive results also is increasing, data shows.
Of the people tested, DHEC said that 19% of those tests turned up positive. At the state’s lowest point in May, DHEC reported the percent positive between 2% and 4%.
Why are case numbers up?
Health officials have continued to stress masks and social distancing — two factors that are contributing to the uptick in cases — as South Carolina businesses and restaurants continue to reopen. But the outbreak and spread may go beyond that.
Since late April, McMaster has gradually reopened businesses, including restaurants, retailers, beaches, gyms and salons.
McMaster said he does not plan to close beaches again, but he also does not plan to reopen more businesses until cases fall.
State leaders, including McMaster, also have urged South Carolinians to wear face masks when in public. As local leaders have implemented mask ordinances, McMaster told reporters last week it was would be “impossible” to enact one statewide.
That counters the sentiment from the state’s top epidemiologist, Dr. Linda Bell, who told reporters in June that a statewide mask requirement could help to slow the spread of COVID-19.
How is DHEC’s testing plan impacting case numbers?
The state’s health agency has expanded its testing plan over the last month. But more testing isn’t the sole reason case numbers are rising, officials say.
“Doing testing doesn’t create new cases,” Bell said last week. “When we test, we’re finding cases that are already out there.”
COVID-19 testing has been relatively steady from May 10 to June 13, when labs across the state completed about 35,000 tests a week. From June 14 to June 20, labs completed about 44,300 tests. Statewide, labs have completed a total of 420,061 tests since March.
If DHEC only counted one test per person, 400,000 tests would represent about 7.8% of South Carolinians.
The health department plans to continue increasing testing in the coming months.
Officials said they plan to log about 140,000 tests each month in July and August and reach 165,000 tests a month by the new year.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 2:30 PM.
