South Carolina reports 664 new COVID-19 cases as percentage of positive tests drops
South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 664 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to its total count Thursday, with the percentage of positive tests dipping below 10%
DHEC also announced 16 more confirmed deaths related to the virus Thursday. That puts the total number of confirmed cases since March at 139,021 and the total number of confirmed deaths at 3,097.
After distributing approximately 15,000 backlogged test results it received Monday to the proper dates, DHEC has now recorded 13 days in a row of fewer than 1,000 new cases for South Carolina.
Officials also reported 6,995 individual test results Thursday, putting the percentage of tests returning positive at 9.5%. The rolling seven-day average of positive tests has declined to 11%, the lowest it has been since June 10
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 Thursday with 96 new cases, accounting for nearly 15% of all the state’s new cases. Neighboring Lexington County added 47.
The following counties saw residents die after contracting COVID-19: Aiken (2), Anderson (1), Beaufort (1), Berkeley (1), Charleston (2), Greenville (1), Newberry (1), Richland (3), Spartanburg (1), Williamsburg (1) and York (2).
Of those who died, 14 were elderly, defined by DHEC as 65 years or older, while two 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 slightly above 700 for the first time 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 free testing sites and opportunities in the Columbia area over the next several weeks.
DHEC has also urged anyone who is “out and about in the community” or around others and not able to socially distance or wear a mask to be tested at least once a month whether they have symptoms or not.
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, 1,313,306 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 Thursday, state health officials reported 43 new probable cases and three new probable deaths. That puts the total number of probable cases at 3,686 and total probable deaths at 182.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As of Thursday, the state reported 804 patients in South Carolina hospitals have the novel coronavirus, including 194 in intensive care and 106 on ventilators. The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized at one time peaked at 1,723 on July 23.
In all, 82.99% of inpatient beds in S.C. hospitals are currently occupied, including 76.41% of ICU beds.
This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 3:04 PM.
