DHEC reports SC’s lowest coronavirus case count in three weeks at 527
South Carolina recorded its fewest new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in three weeks Tuesday, as health officials reported 527 cases and an additional 22 deaths related to the coronavirus.
That figure is just below the 528 cases reported Sept. 20 and is the lowest since the 380 cases reported on Sept. 8. Since the global pandemic first reached South Carolina in March, the Department of Health and Environmental Control has recorded 143,495 confirmed cases and 3,173 deaths.
Amid a surge in free testing opportunities in the Columbia area coordinated by a federal response team, DHEC reported 4,007 individual test results Tuesday, putting the percentage of tests returning positive at 13.2%. The rolling seven-day average of positive tests is 11.7%.
The average rate of positive tests continues to decline from the state’s high points in July, when it consistently topped 20%, but it is still above the 5% mark health experts, including DHEC state epidemiologist Linda Bell, have cited as a goal.
Officials have also pushed to increase testing totals, recommending anyone who is “out and about” in the community or not able to wear a facial covering and practice social distancing be tested at least once a month.
Which counties were affected?
Richland County has seen a bump in case counts since college students first started returning to campus in late August and led the state once more on Tuesday, with 57 new cases, accounting for 1 in every 10 new cases. Neighboring Lexington County added 36.
The following counties saw residents die after contracting COVID-19: Anderson (1), Abbeville (1), Berkeley (1), Clarendon (1), Darlington (1), Dillon (2), Florence (1), Greenville (5), Horry (2), Hampton (1), Kershaw (1), Lexington (2), Marion (1), Oconee (1) and Sumter (1).
The individual who died in Marion County was a young adult, defined by DHEC as someone between 18 and 34 years old. Seven others were middle-aged, defined as between 35 and 64 years old, and the remaining 14 were elderly, defined as 65 years old and up.
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 slightly in late August and early September, but it dipped again and has stayed below 1,000 new cases per day for most of the month.
State health officials credited the 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 has set up free 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. The seven-day moving average of that percentage in South Carolina rose to nearly 20% in early September but has declined to under 12% in recent weeks.
Nationally, about 8.2% of tests have turned up positive, according to the CDC. In South Carolina, that percentage has been higher since March, at 14.8%. In all, 1,412,359 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 Tuesday, state health officials reported 37 new probable cases and one new probable death. That puts the total number of probable cases at 4,139 and total probable deaths at 186.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As of Tuesday, the state reported 690 patients in South Carolina hospitals have the novel coronavirus, including 176 in intensive care and 88 on ventilators. This is the first time since June 16 that fewer than 700 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized at one time, according to the COVID Tracking Project — the number of patients hospitalized at one time peaked at 1,723 on July 23.
In all, 77.25% of inpatient beds in S.C. hospitals are currently occupied, including 72.75% of ICU beds.
This story was originally published September 29, 2020 at 2:43 PM.
