South Carolina among states with highest COVID-19 risk. What counties are the worst?

South Carolina has the fourth highest coronavirus risk rating in the country, according to a new study, and while the illness is spreading in every corner of the state, some counties are seeing far more infections than others.

The study from the Harvard Global Health Institute assigns risk levels county by county across the U.S., using a color-coded system ranging from green, to yellow, to orange and then red, with red being the worst. Ratings are based on a rolling seven-day average of the number of new daily cases per capita.

Only Arizona, Mississippi, and Florida are reporting more daily infections than South Carolina, according to the study.

So, which SC counties are most at-risk?

Charleston County takes the top spot — with an average 53.6 daily cases out of 100,000 people — followed by Horry, Georgetown, Laurens, Newberry, Pickens, Dillon, Greenville, Sumter, Orangeburg, and Bamburg counties, all of which are in the red zone of the rating scale.

Researchers call the red level the “tipping point,” and say to maintain control of the outbreak in this stage, stay-at-home orders are necessary.

Orange indicates “accelerated spread,” and Harvard’s team of experts recommend stay-at-home orders or “rigorous” test and trace programs.

Yellow means community spread is ongoing, and testing and tracing programs are needed.

Finally there’s green, “on track for containment,” which calls for monitoring with viral testing, and continuing to contact trace.

There aren’t any counties in green in South Carolina, but there are nine in yellow, and the remaining 26 rate orange, the data show.

McCormick County is the lowest risk of any South Carolina county, reporting an average of 1.5 cases a day per 100,000 people.

Just behind is Edgefield County, then Allendale, Aiken, Union, Hampton, Anderson, Cherokee, and Abbeville counties, rounding out the yellow risk group.

State health officials announced 1,741 new infections Tuesday, an all-time high for daily case counts, The State reported.

More than 36,000 South Carolinians have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, and there are currently over 1,000 people hospitalized with the disease or who are suspected of having it.