South Carolina records 505 new coronavirus cases with lowest testing totals since May
South Carolina health officials reported just 505 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday — but also the state’s lowest daily testing total since May.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control announced the new confirmed cases and testing totals, along with 42 new confirmed deaths Wednesday afternoon. Since the global coronavirus pandemic reached the state in March, the agency has recorded 112,643 confirmed cases and 2,451 confirmed deaths.
With only 2,470 individual test results Wednesday, the percentage of positive tests was 20.4% — 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.”
According to data from the COVID Tracking Project and DHEC, the last time South Carolina had fewer than 3,000 tests in one day was May 24. Testing figures consistently reached 10,000 in mid-July but have declined as of late, not surpassing 9,000 through all of August.
Which counties were affected?
In the Midlands, Richland County had 77 new cases, most of any county in the state, accounting for nearly 1 in every 6 new cases.
Lexington County, meanwhile, added just 11. 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: Anderson (5), Charleston (3), Colleton (2), Dorchester (3), Edgefield (1), Florence (1), Georgetown (1), Greenville (3), Greenwood (2) Hampton (3), Lancaster (4), Newberry (1), Oconee (2), Richland (1), Spartanburg (5), Sumter (1) and York (4).
Of those 42 confirmed deaths, 38 were described as elderly and 65 years or older, while four were in middle-aged individuals between 35 and 64 years old.
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. DHEC has reported daily figures under 1,000 for the last 11 days in a row.
State health officials said Tuesday that the virus’ progression has been slowing significantly in areas with face mask requirements and where residents are practicing social distancing.
However, the drop in case numbers can also be attributed in part to labs performing fewer tests, DHEC officials have said. In order to account for that possibility, officials have highlighted the importance of percentage of tests run that come back positive.
On Wednesday, 20.4% of tests reported were positive, the first time that percentage has passed 20% in two weeks. In May, at its lowest point, the percentage of positive tests fell between 2% and 4% on average, while it peaked in July at consistently upwards of 20%.
The percentage of COVID-19 tests with positive results has ticked up this past week after declining week over week since mid-July, and it is still above the 5% standard DHEC has said it would like to see.
“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,” Bell told reporters during a conference call Friday.
Nationally, about 9.1% of tests turn up positive, according to the CDC.
In all, 972,538 tests have been completed in South Carolina since March. That includes 908,629 viral tests and 61,651 antibody tests, which do not test for an active infection but can tell a person whether they’ve been exposed to the virus before.
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 Wednesday, they estimated that 750,763 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 Wednesday, state health officials reported 28 new probable cases and three new probable deaths. That brings the total number of probable cases up to 1,450 and total probable deaths to 122.
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 Wednesday, the state reported 1,058 patients in South Carolina hospitals have coronavirus, including 268 patients in intensive care and 156 patients on ventilators.
In all, 81.05% of in-patient beds are occupied in S.C. hospitals, including 76.5% 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 daily numbers have declined since, though Wednesday’s numbers marked a slight increase from earlier in the week.
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.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 1:49 PM.
