South Carolina adds 613 new coronavirus cases, 25 more deaths related to virus
South Carolina added 613 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to its total count Wednesday, as the average percentage of tests returning positive in the state continues to tick down.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control also announced 25 more confirmed deaths related to the virus Wednesday. That puts the total number of confirmed cases since March at 138,171 and the total number of confirmed deaths at 3,085.
After distributing approximately 15,000 backlogged test results it received Monday to the proper dates, DHEC has now recorded 12 days in a row of fewer than 1,000 new cases for South Carolina.
Officials also reported 5,592 individual test results Wednesday, putting the percentage of tests returning positive at 11%. The rolling seven-day average of positive tests has declined to 11.1%, the lowest it has been since early June.
That’s a decline from the state’s high points in July, when the percentage consistently topped 20%, but it is still above the 5% mark health experts, including DHEC state epidemiologist Linda Bell, have cited as a goal.
Which counties were affected?
Richland County, which has seen a bump in case counts since college students first started returning to campus in late August, led the state Wednesday with 75 new cases. Neighboring Lexington County added 60.
The following counties saw residents die after contracting COVID-19: Abbeville (1), Aiken (2), Anderson (4), Charleston (1), Chesterfield (1), Darlington (1), Dillon (1), Dorchester (1), Florence (2), Georgetown (1), Greenville (2), Horry (1), Lancaster (1), Newberry (1), Orangeburg (2), Pickens (1), Spartanburg (1) and York (1).
Of those who died, 19 were elderly, defined by DHEC as 65 years or older, while six were middle-aged, defined as between 35 and 64 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 after, 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 it has since begun to dip again. With Wednesday’s totals, it is now just above 700, the lowest it has been since mid-June.
DHEC and other health experts had warned of a possible spike in cases after the Labor Day holiday as residents planned vacations to crowded beaches and students returned to schools. The state had previously seen an increase in May after Memorial Day, going from about 100 to 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.
Such a spike would take time to materialize, however, as symptoms can take up to two weeks to develop and reporting can several days.
Still, state health officials have credited the overall decline in cases since July in part to a significant slowdown in virus activity in areas with face mask requirements and where residents are practicing social distancing. In particular, DHEC data has shown that the areas that implemented mask ordinances the earliest have seen the largest overall declines.
But health officials have also said lower testing totals have played a role as well. 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 deployed a federal “surge testing team” that is working to set up more testing sites and opportunities 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 15.1%. In all, 1,293,940 tests have been completed in the state since March.
Are all cases accounted for?
State health officials have estimated 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 Wednesday, state health officials reported 53 new probable cases and one new probable death. That puts the total number of probable cases at 3,515 and total probable deaths at 177.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As of Wednesday, the state reported 786 patients in South Carolina hospitals have the novel coronavirus, including 190 in intensive care and 103 on ventilators. The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized at one time peaked at 1,723 on July 23.
In all, 81.56% of inpatient beds in S.C. hospitals are currently occupied, including 74.5% of ICU beds.
This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 2:38 PM.
