420 new cases of COVID-19 and more than a dozen deaths confirmed in South Carolina
Health officials announced that 420 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in South Carolina on Sunday.
Thirteen coronavirus-related deaths were also reported by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
With the new results, there have been 134,494 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 3,028 deaths in South Carolina since testing began in March.
The results are based on more than 4,500 tests from Saturday, and the percent positive was 9.2%, according to DHEC.
Which counties were affected?
Richland County, which has seen a bump in case counts since college students started returning to the University of South Carolina campus in late August, had the most new COVID-19 cases in the state Sunday with 90.
Overall, 14,434 positive tests and 215 deaths have been reported in Richland County, health officials said.
Neighboring Lexington County added 27 new cases, third most in the state, according to DHEC. Since testing began, 6,737 cases and 151 deaths have been confirmed in Lexington County.
With 39 positive tests, Greenville County rounded out the top three areas with the most new cases of COVID-19.
Health officials said 11 of the new confirmed deaths were in elderly individuals (65 and older), with two middle-aged (35-64 years old) people dying.
Two of the deaths were reported in Richland County, and two more each in Newberry and Dillon counties, according to DHEC. Single deaths were confirmed in Chesterfield, Florence, Greenville, Lancaster, Pickens, Williamsburg, and York counties.
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 and a half since then, totals slowly dropped, including a stretch of 13 days in a row when case counts were under 1,000.
The seven-day moving average of new cases rose again in late August and early September, but has since begun to dip again. There have now been 13 days in a row of fewer than 1,000 cases.
State health officials are projecting 3,936 new cases for Sept. 20-26.
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 the percentage of tests 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%.
In all, 1,229,227 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 Sunday, state health officials reported 30 new probable cases and no new probable deaths. That puts the total number of probable cases at 3,214 and total probable deaths at 171.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As of Sunday, the state reported 733 patients in South Carolina hospitals have the novel coronavirus, including 203 who are in intensive care and 123 on ventilators. The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized at one time peaked at 1,723 on July 23.
In all, 7,742 of 10,082 inpatient beds in S.C. hospitals are currently occupied, including 1,055 ICU beds.
This story was originally published September 20, 2020 at 11:36 AM.
