DHEC reports nearly 1,000 more coronavirus cases in SC, 40 more deaths
South Carolina surpassed 160,000 total cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, while health officials also announced the largest increase to the state’s death toll in nearly six weeks.
Officials with the Department of Health and Environmental Control reported a daily case count of 971, putting the state’s total at 160,384 since the first cases were reported in March. They also reported 40 more deaths in individuals who had tested positive for the virus, raising the state’s total to 3,526.
Thursday’s increase in deaths is the largest DHEC has reported since Sept. 11. It encompasses some individuals who died in September but were not included earlier as officials investigated to ensure they met federal guidance to be classified as a COVID-19 related death.
DHEC’s Thursday report also included 7,160 individual test results, putting the percentage of positive tests at 12.9%. A total of 1,814,795 tests have now been performed in the state since March.
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.
“We continue to have relatively higher levels of disease transmission in our community. Recently, we have seen a slight downward trend in cases, and we’ve seen a bit of a plateau,” Bell said during a conference call with reporters last Friday. “But at the same time, we continue to see a percent positive in the population that is much higher than we’d like to see, and the consequences of ongoing disease transmission are that individuals will become sick. Many of those individuals will require hospitalization.”
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?
Many of Thursday’s new cases came from the Upstate region, as Greenville County led the state in new cases with 130, while Spartanburg County added 117. No other county had 100 or more cases.
In the Midlands, Richland County reported 40 new cases, while neighboring Lexington County had 35.
The deaths reported Thursday occurred among individuals from Anderson (5), Bamberg (1), Barnwell (2), Charleston (1), Cherokee (1), Chester (3), Colleton (3), Darlington (1), Dorchester (1), Greenville (1), Horry (2), Lancaster (3), Laurens (1), Lee (1), Lexington (2), Newberry (3), Oconee (1), Pickens (1), Spartanburg (1), Sumter (2) and York (4).
Six of those who died were middle aged, defined by DHEC as between 35 and 64 years old. The remaining 34 were elderly, defined as 65 years or older.
Are all cases accounted for?
State health officials estimated in the past that around 86% of South Carolinians who contract the virus didn’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 Thursday, health officials reported 79 new probable cases and 10 new probable deaths from COVID-19. That puts the total number of probable cases at 7,101 and total probable deaths at 229.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As of Thursday, DHEC reported that 766 patients were hospitalized with coronavirus-related symptoms, or 9.01% 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; 185 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, followed by a steady decline. The seven-day moving average of daily new cases declined to under 1,000 in early September and has stayed between 700 and 925 since.
State health officials have released DHEC data showing that the earlier county and local governments implemented ordinances requiring face masks or facial coverings, the larger overall decline in virus activity.
But officials have also said the decline in new cases can be attributed in part to lower testing totals. After regularly reporting more than 10,000 tests a day in July, DHEC has seen a plateau in testing totals below that figure.
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 declined to under 10% by the end of the month. Since then, it has ranged between 10% and 14%.
Nationally, between 7 and 8% of tests have turned up positive, according to the CDC.
This story was originally published October 22, 2020 at 2:08 PM.
