SC reports fewest coronavirus cases, lowest percent positive of tests in August
South Carolina health officials reported the state’s lowest daily case count of COVID-19 in more than two months on Thursday, while also reporting more than double the number of total tests reported in Wednesday’s low figures.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 424 new confirmed cases — the last time the state had fewer cases in a single day was June 6.
DHEC also confirmed 42 new deaths Thursday. Since the global coronavirus pandemic reached the state in March, the agency has recorded 113,107 confirmed cases and 2,494 confirmed deaths.
After recording only 2,470 individual test results Wednesday, the fewest the state has had since May, DHEC reported 5,234 test results Thursday. While still a decline from the 10,000 or so daily tests South Carolina saw in late July, Thursday’s figure was enough to lower the percentage of positive tests to 8.1%, the lowest it has been in at least two months.
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 last 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.”
Which counties were affected?
In the Midlands, Richland County had 71 new cases, most of any county in the state, accounting for roughly 1 in every 6 new cases. At 9,968 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic, Richland is on the verge of becoming the third county in the state to reach 10,000 cases, after Charleston and Greenville counties.
Lexington County, meanwhile, added 17 new cases. 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), Barnwell (1), Beaufort (1), Charleston (1), Chester (1), Chesterfield (1), Colleton (1), Dorchester (1), Fairfield (1), Florence (1), Greenville (4), Greenwood (4), Lexington (1), Newberry (1), Orangeburg (1), Richland (3), Saluda (1), Spartanburg (7), Sumter (2), Williamsburg (1) and York (3).
Of those 42 confirmed deaths, 33 were described as elderly and 65 years or older, eight were in middle-aged individuals between the ages of 35 and 64 and one was a young adult between 18 and 34 years old.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
The number of daily new cases reported in South Carolina hit a high of 2,343 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 12 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. On Thursday, however, it dropped back under 10%, the first time that has happened in more than two months.
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 down week over week since mid-July, but 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, 980,834 tests have been completed in South Carolina since March. That includes 916,528 viral tests and 62,032 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 751,227 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 42 new probable cases and 14 new probable deaths. That brings the total number of probable cases up to 1,491 and total probable deaths to 134.
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 Thursday, the state reported 1,006 patients in South Carolina hospitals have coronavirus, including 262 patients in intensive care and 144 patients on ventilators.
In all, 82.3% of in-patient beds are occupied in S.C. hospitals, including 76% 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.
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 27, 2020 at 2:08 PM.
