DHEC: Upstate spike in COVID-19 cases continues, according to latest SC report
South Carolina health officials reported 831 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, as the state hit 13 consecutive days with the rate of positive tests exceeding 10%, a level experts say indicates continued virus activity throughout the community.
Officials with the Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 6,097 individual test results, putting the percentage of positive tests at 13.6%. Oct. 18 marked the last time officials reported less than 10% positive; the seven-day moving average of that percentage has stayed above 10% for most of October.
The average rate of positive tests topped 20% in parts of July and has declined since, but it is still well above the 5% mark that health experts, including DHEC state epidemiologist Linda Bell, have cited as a goal for safely reopening.
A total of 1,993,561 tests have now been performed in the state since March.
DHEC officials also reported 36 more confirmed deaths related to the virus Saturday. Since the first cases of the coronavirus were identified in South Carolina in March, officials have reported 167,885 cases and 3,686 deaths.
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?
The Upstate continues to have a surge in new cases, with 123 reported in Greenville County Saturday, the most of any county. Spartanburg County had 76 new cases, Pickens County 47 and Anderson County 44.
In the Midlands, Richland added 56 cases and Lexington County 47 new cases.
The deaths reported Saturday occurred among individuals from Anderson (3), Berkeley (1), Charleston (1), Dorchester (2), Edgefield (1), Florence (1), Georgetown (1), Greenville (4), Kershaw (2), Lexington (4), Marion (2), Marlboro (1), Newberry (1), Pickens (3), Richland (2), Spartanburg (4) and York (3).
DHEC reported that 26 were elderly, 11 were middle-aged, and one was a young adult. Elderly is 65 and older, middle-aged 35 to 64, and young adult 18 to 34.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
While parts of the country have hit a “third wave” of infections higher than the peaks seen in the spring and summer, South Carolina has thus far not seen several of its key metrics hit the highs reached in July. The number of daily new cases reported hit a peak of 2,343 on July 18; the seven-day moving average of the percentage of positive tests topped out at 21.2% on July 14, and the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients reached 1,723 on July 23.
As of Saturday, both the moving average number of daily new cases and the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized has stayed below 1,000, while the percentage of positive tests has stayed between 10% and 14% for nearly all of October.
However, the rate of new cases and hospitalizations have both increased over the past month. The rate of testing, meanwhile, has inched upwards as of late, but has declined from its highs in the middle of the summer, when DHEC was reporting more than 10,000 tests per day.
Officials have said there has not been a reduction in testing capacity, but demand has slowed as “testing fatigue” sets in.
Are all cases accounted for?
State health officials at one point estimated that around 86% of South Carolinians who contract the virus didn’t get tested. Across the country, health 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 Saturday, health officials reported 52 new probable cases and five new probable deaths from COVID-19. That puts the total number of probable cases at 8,727 and total probable deaths at 249.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As of Saturday, DHEC reported that 789 patients were hospitalized with coronavirus-related symptoms, or 9.17% 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; 197 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care, and 80 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.
This story was originally published October 31, 2020 at 11:36 AM.