DHEC reports 909 new coronavirus cases in SC with high percentage of tests positive
South Carolina extended its streak of days with fewer than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases to 10, health officials announced Tuesday, but the percentage of tests coming back positive hit a one-week high and is still well above levels desired by experts.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 909 new confirmed cases Tuesday, putting the state’s total since the coronavirus pandemic began in March at 112,088.
With 5,226 individual test results, the percentage of positive tests Friday was 17.4% — the World Health Organization suggests 5% should be the standard before countries consider reopening and Department of Health and Environmental Control state epidemiologist Linda Bell cited the same percentage as a goal.
“Recently our numbers have been slowly trending downward, and for that to continue, we cannot let up,” Bell said during a conference call with reporters Friday. “To sustain this downward trajectory, we must be ever vigilant in taking aggressive measures to rein in this virus, because our disease rates are still very concerning.”
DHEC also reported 18 new confirmed deaths, bringing the total death toll to 2,408.
Which counties were affected?
Greenville County accounted for more than one of every five new cases Tuesday, logging 186 confirmed cases to its total. The Upstate county has the second highest total case count in the state with 11,767 but is 26th in cases per 100,000 residents.
In the Midlands, Richland County had 75 new cases, while Lexington County added 36. Lexington County has seen a decreasing rate of virus activity over the past few weeks and is on the lower end of the state in cases per capita.
Residents of the following counties died after contracting the virus: Aiken (1), Anderson (3), Barnwell (1), Charleston (2), Chesterfield (1), Edgefield (1), Florence (2), Greenville (1), Hampton (1), Lexington (2), Richland (2) and Sumter (1).
Of those confirmed deaths, 16 were described as elderly and 65 years or older, while two were in middle-aged individuals between 35 and 64 years old.
Are all cases accounted for?
State health officials estimate that around 86% of South Carolinians who contract the virus don’t get tested.
As of Tuesday, they estimated that 750,208 people in all have likely contracted COVID-19 since March.
DHEC has also been recording probable cases and probable deaths. A probable case is someone who has not received a lab test results but has virus symptoms or a positive antibody test. 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.
On Tuesday, state health officials reported 19 new probable cases and two new probable deaths. That brings the total number of probable cases up to 1,400 and total probable deaths to 121.
DHEC officials have said the recent slow down in testing could mean that more people with the coronavirus have gone untested and undiagnosed.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As of Tuesday, the state reported 1,025 patients in South Carolina hospitals have coronavirus, including 261 patients in intensive care and 144 patients on ventilators.
In all, 76.8% of in-patient beds are occupied in S.C. hospitals, including 73.3% of beds in intensive care units.
The number of coronavirus patients hospitalized at one time peaked at more than 1,700 on July 23, and the state has seen decreases in those daily numbers since.
Some data since late July was unavailable as DHEC transitioned its reporting system from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Department of Health and Human Services, as requested by the federal government. The agency said the new system will give more precise information about COVID-19-related hospital conditions.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
The number of daily new cases reported in South Carolina hit a high of 2,340 on July 18. In the month since, totals have slowly dropped. Three weeks ago, case counts ranged from just above 1,000 to more than 1,300. Last week, the number of new cases never cracked 1,000.
State health officials said Friday that the virus’ progression is slowing thanks to local mask mandates and residents practicing social distancing and wearing masks.
However, part of the drop in case numbers may be due to labs performing fewer tests, DHEC officials have said. For example, labs were clearing about 10,000 tests from mid-July to early August. Starting Aug. 4, the state started reporting fewer completed tests each day, reaching as low as 3,847 tests performed on Aug. 12.
On Tuesday, 17.4% of tests reported were positive, slightly above 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, while it peaked in July at upwards of 20%.
The current level, while a decline from that high, is still above what Bell says is necessary.
“We still need that percent positive to be significantly lower, and we recognize that we really do want to test a great deal more individuals, because we understand that there are still many many asymptomatic people in the population that may not be aware they are affected,” Bell said during a conference call with reporters Friday. “So, that that does not change our goal to significantly ramp up testing.
“Our goal has always been to see a consistent downward trend that persisted for at least 14 days at a very low level with a percent positive that is ... ideally, less than 5%. And so if we were to achieve that goal of sustained disease activity suppression for at least two weeks, that would have widespread implications for a confidence that we could resume certain activities that are being evaluated now.”
Nationally, about 8.86% of tests turn up positive, according to the CDC.
In all, 968,583 tests have been completed in South Carolina since March. That includes 904,707 viral tests and 61,524 antibody tests, which do not test for an active infection but can tell a person whether they’ve been exposed to the virus before.
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 2:22 PM.
