DHEC reports more than 700 new COVID-19 cases; Richland has the most
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 706 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Saturday.
State health officials also reported that nine more people died from the virus, bringing the total to 3,017 deaths.
Of the 6,331 test conducted, 11.2% came back positive, which continues a month long trend of declining virus rates, DHEC data show.
The latest report brings the state’s total of number recorded cases of COVID-19 to 134,052.
Which counties were affected?
Richland County, which has seen a bump in case counts since college students started returning to campus in late August, saw the largest increase in new cases Saturday, with 79. Neighboring Lexington County added 65.
The following counties saw residents die after contracting COVID-19: Anderson (3), Charleston (1), Florence (1), Greenville (1), Lexington (1), McCormick (1), Richland (1)
All but one person who died was 65 years old or older. The remaining victim was said to be middle aged, described as 35-64.
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 when case counts were under 1,000.
The 7-day moving average of new cases rose again in late August and early September, but has since begun to dip again, and there have now been 12 days in a row of fewer than 1,000 cases.
Ahead of the Labor Day weekend, DHEC and other health experts warned of a possible spike in cases as residents planned vacations to crowded beaches and students returned to schools. The state saw a similar increase in May after Memorial Day, when cases rose from about 100-300 cases per day to more than 1,000, and, to a lesser extent, in July after Independence Day, going from 1,600 to 1,900.
But such a spike wouldn’t show up in the data immediately, as patients may not develop symptoms for as many as two weeks.
State health officials have credited the decline since July in part to a significant slowdown in virus activity in areas with face mask requirements and where residents are practicing social distancing.
But they have also said lower testing totals have played a role. After regularly reporting more than 10,000 tests a day in July, DHEC has not recorded that many throughout August and September and bottomed out at under 3,000 tests reported in a day on multiple occasions.
Officials have said there has not been a reduction in testing capacity, but demand has slowed as “testing fatigue” sets in. The Department of Health and Human Services has deployed a federal “surge testing team” to push for more testing in the Columbia area over the next several weeks.
To account for lower test totals, officials have highlighted the importance of percentage of tests run that come back positive. Nationally, about 8.3% of tests have turned up positive, according to the CDC.
In South Carolina, that percentage has been higher since March, at 15.3%. With Saturday’s results, the seven-day rolling average dropped to 12.2%, the lowest it has been since early June.
In all, 1,218,911 tests have been completed in South Carolina since March.
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 Saturday, state health officials reported 40 new probable cases and two new probable deaths. That puts the total number of probable cases at 3,188 and total probable deaths at 171.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As of Saturday, the state reported 826 patients in South Carolina hospitals have the novel coronavirus, including 203 in intensive care and 121 on ventilators. The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized at one time peaked at 1,723 on July 23.
In all, 81.1% of inpatient beds in S.C. hospitals are currently occupied, including 72.85% of ICU beds.
This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 12:43 PM.