Over 80,000 have tested positive for COVID-19 in SC despite fewer new cases Sunday
South Carolina health officials announced 1,170 new cases of the coronavirus Sunday, with the Department of Health and Environmental Control reporting that 25 more people have died after contracting COVID-19.
This is the lowest number of positive tests reported in a single day since DHEC confirmed 934 new cases of COVID-19 on July 7. It is the second consecutive day that the number of new cases reported in South Carolina has declined.
The new positive tests bring the number of coronavirus cases in the state to 80,856, according to DHEC.
Since the first positive case was identified in March, 1,436 have died in South Carolina from confirmed infections.
Which counties were affected?
Charleston County saw the largest increase with 124 new cases on Sunday, according to DHEC.
In the Midlands, Richland County had 63 people test positive for COVID-19, and Lexington County had 41.
Health officials said 20 of the confirmed deaths occurred in elderly individuals, with four in Florence, two in Charleston, Bamberg, Lexington and Darlington and single deaths in Anderson, Beaufort, Greenville, Laurens, Orangeburg, Richland, Spartanburg and York.
Health officials also confirmed five middle age or young adult deaths in individuals from Bamberg, Darlington, Dorchester, Greenville and Laurens.
Are all cases accounted for?
State health officials estimate that up to 86% of people who contract the coronavirus don’t get tested. Through Saturday, DHEC estimated that 577,543 people have actually contracted COVID-19 since March.
State health officials have also started to track what officials 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. Three new probable cases were reported Sunday by health officials.
A probable death is someone who has not gotten a lab test but whose death certificate lists COVID-19 as a cause of death or a contributing factor. There were three more probable deaths reported by DHEC Sunday.
In all, DHEC is investigating 343 probable cases and 55 probable deaths.
DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory is operating extended hours and is testing specimens seven days a week, and the Public Health Laboratory’s current time frame for providing results to health care providers is 24-48 hours.
How are hospitals being impacted?
South Carolina saw record numbers of hospitalized coronavirus patients nearly every day in July.
On Sunday, DHEC did not announce information on hospitalization, saying that hospitals are transitioning to a new federal reporting system and that “DHEC is aware that the information currently provided by hospitals through the new system has inaccuracies.”
Since Wednesday, hospitals have actively been making a transition to a new federal reporting system for improving bed occupancy and other important information.
When the inaccuracies are cleared up, DHEC will again be providing hospitalization numbers, it said.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has said the state is ready to implement a plan to create new bed space if hospitals become overburdened. He added he could require medical facilities to postpone elective procedures again. Officials with the S.C. Emergency Management Division recently said the state had not reached that point.
But in Orangeburg County, the S.C. National Guard was called on to build overflow tents to hold coronavirus patients.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
South Carolina has consistently seen record daily coronavirus case counts since June.
New cases announced in the past three weeks accounted for nearly 50% of all cases since March.
Last week, daily case counts ranged from 1,401 to 2,374. The seven-day average for cases in SC is 1,771, an increase of 10% from the average two weeks earlier. DHEC projects 16,223 new cases in the state for the coming week.
The total number of individual test results reported to DHEC on Sunday was 7,490. A total of 700,464 tests have been conducted in South Carolina overall.
DHEC officials also noted that the percentage of positive tests — another indicator of the coronavirus’ spread — has been rising over the last 28 days.
Officials reported that 15.6% of tests reported Sunday were positive. That number is higher than what health officials saw in March and early April. In May, at its lowest point, the percentage of positive tests fell between 2% and 4% on average.
Last week, the positive rates ranged from 17.6% to 21.9%. Nationally, about 8.7% of tests turn up positive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Why are case numbers up?
DHEC officials say case counts are surging because more people are leaving their homes as businesses reopen.
Fewer people are practicing social distancing and wearing masks, they said.
McMaster has gradually reopened businesses since April 20, including restaurants, stores, beaches, gyms and salons. He has repeatedly said he would not consider closing businesses again or requiring South Carolinians to wear masks in response to the coronavirus case explosion.
There is no statewide mask mandate but local officials have taken their own steps to curb the spread of the coronavirus, including in Columbia where masks are now required.
This story was originally published July 26, 2020 at 11:55 AM.
