South Carolina adds 700 new cases, 17 deaths related to COVID-19
South Carolina’s daily case count of new coronavirus cases continues to plateau, as state health officials announced 700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wedneday.
Since the start of October, the Department of Health and Environmental Control has recorded no more than 967 and no fewer than 525 new cases in a single day.
DHEC also announced 17 new deaths related to the novel virus Wednesday. Since the first case of the novel virus in South Carolina was reported in March, DHEC has now recorded 153,729 confirmed cases of the virus and 3,387 deaths.
A total of 1,674,133 tests have now been performed in the state since March. Out of 6,310 test results reported Wednesday, 11.1% came back positive.
The average rate of positive tests has declined from the state’s high points in July, when it consistently topped 20%, but it is still well above the 5% mark that health experts, including DHEC state epidemiologist Linda Bell, have cited as a goal.
Officials are now 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, in order to track and curb the spread of asymptomatic cases.
Which counties were affected?
Aiken County led the state in new cases Wednesday, adding 91 to its total for its biggest increase since early August. Horry County had the second largest jump, adding 79. In the Midlands, Richland County reported 41 new cases, while neighboring Lexington County had 38.
The deaths reported Wednesday occurred among individuals from Barnwell (1), Berkeley (1), Edgefield (1), Florence (1), Georgetown (1), Greenville (2), Lexington (3), Newberry (3), Orangeburg (1) and York (3) counties.
All but one of those who died were elderly, defined by DHEC as 65 years or older. The individual in Berkeley Couny was middle aged, defined as between the ages of 35 and 64.
Are all cases accounted for?
State health officials estimated in the past that around 86% of South Carolinians who contract the virus don’t get tested, and global experts have said official case counts have likely under-counted the number of cases.
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, health officials reported 81 new probable cases and one new probable death from COVID-19. That puts the total number of probable cases at 6,080 and total probable deaths at 206.
How are hospitals being impacted?
On Wednesday, 792 patients were hospitalized with coronavirus-related symptoms, or 9.4% of all patients currently in the hospital. The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at one time in the state peaked at 1,723 on July 23.
Some have more serious conditions than others; 204 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care, and 91 are on ventilators.
Health officials said COVID-19 can cause mild to severe illness. Older adults and people who have serious underlying medical conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and/or chronic lung diseases, are at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, according to DHEC.
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. Since then, the seven-day moving average of daily new cases has declined to 852.
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 showed that the areas that implemented mask ordinances the earliest have seen the largest overall declines.
But health officials have 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 since then.
Officials have said there has not been a reduction in testing capacity, but demand has slowed as “testing fatigue” sets in. 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 11% recently.
Nationally, about 7.7% of tests have turned up positive, according to the CDC.
This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 1:53 PM.
