Coming off Labor Day, SC reports fewest COVID-19 cases in months, low testing totals
Coming off the Labor Day weekend, South Carolina recorded its fewest new COVID-19 cases in more than three months on Tuesday, announcing 339 additional cases of the novel virus.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control also announced five new confirmed deaths related to the virus, the lowest single-day total since July 15.
Since the global pandemic first reached South Carolina in March, DHEC has recorded 123,801 confirmed cases and 2,772 deaths related to the virus.
Tuesday’s totals are the lowest the state has seen since the start of June, when the virus’ spread first started to accelerate. The June numbers also come off a holiday during which DHEC reported only 2,993 individual test results, the agency’s second lowest total in three months.
That total equates to 11.3% of tests coming back positive, marking the fourth consecutive day that the positivity rate has been below 13%.
The World Health Organization suggests 5% should be the standard before countries consider reopening, and DHEC state epidemiologist Linda Bell has cited the same percentage as a goal. But through much of July, that figure regularly surpassed 20% in South Carolina, and it has not been below 13% for an entire calendar week since early June.
Which counties were affected?
Richland County has seen a surge in cases recently, coinciding with the return of thousands of college students to the University of South Carolina and other campuses. It led the state again Tuesday with 81 new cases, accounting for nearly one in every four new cases.
Neighboring Lexington County saw 20 new confirmed cases. Elsewhere across the state, Greenville County reported 46 new cases, second highest on the day.
Residents from the following counties died after contracting the virus: Charleston (2), Clarendon (1), Greenwood (1), Lexington (1). All of those who died were elderly, defined as being 65 years or older.
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 after, totals slowly dropped, including a stretch of 13 days in a row under 1,000 towards the end of August.
Ahead of the Labor Day weekend, however, DHEC and other health experts warned of a possible spike in cases as residents take vacations to crowded beaches and students return to schools — the state saw a similar increase in May after Memorial Day, going from about 100 to 300 cases per day to more than 1,000.
Such a spike wouldn’t show up in the data immediately, as patients could not develop symptoms for as many as two weeks.
State health officials have said that the virus’ progression has been slowing significantly in areas with face mask requirements and where residents are practicing social distancing.
However, the overall drop in case numbers, especially the day after a holiday, can also be attributed in part to labs performing fewer tests.
To account for that possibility, officials have highlighted the importance of percentage of tests run that come back positive. Nationally, about 8.6% of tests turn up positive, according to the CDC. In South Carolina, that figure has been 15.2% since March.
In all, 1,079,586 tests have been completed in South Carolina since March, including 1,012,044 viral tests and 64,981 antibody tests, which can tell if an individual has been exposed to the virus but cannot confirm an active infection.
Are all cases accounted for?
State health officials estimate that around 86% of South Carolinians who contract the virus don’t get tested.
DHEC has also been recording probable cases and probable deaths. A probable case is someone who has not received a lab test result 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 10 new probable cases and no new probable deaths. That puts the total number of probable cases at 2,107 and total probable deaths at 140.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As of Tuesday, the state reported 766 patients in South Carolina hospitals have coronavirus, the fewest since June 22, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Of those hospitalized with COVID, 213 are in intensive care and 118 are on ventilators.
In all, 74.44% of in-patient beds are occupied in S.C. hospitals.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 4:33 PM.
