Six months of COVID-19 in South Carolina: Where we stand in cases, deaths, economy
On March 6, 2020, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced it was investigating its first two likely cases of COVID-19, in an elderly woman from Kershaw County and an adult woman from Charleston County.
It has now been six months since those first cases were announced. In that time, South Carolina has seen its case count rise to more than 120,000, with more than 2,700 deaths related to the novel coronavirus. The global pandemic has hit the Palmetto State hard, closing schools and businesses and putting many out of work.
CASE COUNTS
After those first two likely cases were announced, it took two weeks for DHEC to report more than 100 confirmed cases, which it did on March 20. Just 11 days later, on March 31, South Carolina hit 1,000 confirmed cases.
Over the next month, DHEC would report a little more than 5,000 more cases. On May 24, the state passed 10,000 cases.
Into the month of June, case counts started to rise. On June 6, the state recorded its first day of more than 500 cases. On June 19, DHEC reported 1,000 cases for the first time.
According to data from DHEC, South Carolina had just one day of fewer than 1,000 new cases throughout the month of July. At its peak in mid-July, South Carolina had the third-worst outbreak in the world, according to a New York Times report that looked at new cases per 1 million residents. The state added more than 50,000 cases in that time, with a peak of 2,342 new cases in one day on July 18.
Since then, case counts have declined, but the state still passed 100,000 total cases on Aug. 11. As of this Saturday, there have been 122,313 confirmed cases since March 6 — that equates to roughly 2.38% of the population, or 1 in every 42 people.
DEATHS AND HOSPITALIZATIONS
South Carolina’s very first death related to COVID-19 was reported March 16 in an elderly individual who was a resident of Lexington Medical Center’s Extended Care Skilled Nursing Facility. Nearly a month later, on April 15, DHEC reported that the state had passed 100 deaths.
On July 11, DHEC reported the first death of a child related to COVID-19 in the state. The child was under 5 years old and a Midlands resident. Five days later, the agency reported more than 1,000 total deaths with a record 69 deaths reported in one day, though some of the deaths occurred in the weeks prior and had not been recorded yet. That total figure doubled to 2,000 by Aug. 11.
Of the 2,738 total confirmed deaths counted by DHEC as of Saturday, the majority have been among people 70 years or older, with 39.1% of them older than 80. The median age of death has been 78 years old.
DHEC’s data note that fewer than five deaths have occurred among children from birth to 10 years old and from 11 to 20. All told, there have been 37 deaths among individuals from 21 to 40 years old.
Roughly 78% of those who have died in South Carolina had a comorbidity, according to DHEC’s data. But health officials have stressed that although COVID-19 is infrequently listed as the sole or direct cause of death, it has been the underlying issue that, sometimes compounded with other health issues, led to individuals dying.
Of those who have contracted the virus, 11.1% have been hospitalized, DHEC has said. Hospitalizations first reached 1,000 toward the end of June before peaking at a high of 1,723 patients on July 23. They have declined since, going below 1,000 at the end of August.
Minority communities, particularly Black populations, have been disproportionately affected by the virus in South Carolina. While African Americans account for 27% of S.C.’s population, they represent 35.3% of deaths related to the virus in the state and 47.7% of hospitalizations.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
Back in February, South Carolina’s unemployment rate was just 2.5%, the lowest it had been since the Great Recession. Throughout the month of March, businesses started to take precautions because of the virus, but it wasn’t until March 31 that Gov. Henry McMaster ordered all nonessential businesses to close.
After that, the state’s unemployment rate jumped to 12.8% in April, the highest it has been in at least 44 years, when record-keeping began.
In early May, McMaster allowed restaurants to offer outdoor seating, then indoor seating soon after. On May 18, nonessential businesses began to reopen. By Memorial Day, McMaster announced tourist attractions and beaches could reopen as well.
South Carolina’s unemployment rate subsequently declined to 8.7% in June, then 8.6% in July, the most recent month for which data is available. But as cases rose sharply during that time, McMaster has been accused by critics of reopening too quickly, and the Associated Press has reported he ignored recommendations from the Department of Health and Environmental Control to put off allowing customers back in restaurants, gyms and salons.
Recently, McMaster has ordered restaurants to limit their capacity to 50% and have staff and customers wear masks inside. He’s also said bars cannot serve alcohol past 11 p.m. as college students start to return to campuses across the state.
This story was originally published September 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
