South Carolina adds nearly 1,000 new cases of COVID-19, DHEC reports
South Carolina health officials announced another 953 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 15 more confirmed deaths related to the virus on Friday, as they continue to warn that the state could be seeing a fall surge in virus activity.
Since the first cases of the virus were identified in South Carolina in March, officials have reported 173,186 confirmed cases and 3,748 confirmed deaths.
Friday’s case count marks the highest total since the last day of October. Officials with the Department of Health and Environmental Control also announced its highest testing totals of the month thus far, with 7,198 individual test results after recording fewer than 3,000 on Thursday.
That testing total put Friday’s percentage of positive tests at 13.2%. It has been nearly three weeks since DHEC has reported a percentage positive under 10%, a level that officials such as state epidemiologist Linda Bell have previously said indicates continued disease spread in the community.
The average rate of positive tests topped 20% in parts of July and has declined since to below 15%, but it is still well above the 5% mark that health experts have cited as a goal for safely reopening.
A total of 2,105,473 tests have now been performed in the state since March. 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 regularly and are urging residents to take advantage of free testing sites throughout the state. They’ve also expanded types of testing to include shallow nasal swabs, oral swabs or saliva testing at different locations.
Which counties were affected?
A large portion of the new cases reported Friday came from the Upstate, which has seen a surge in new cases over the past few weeks. Greenville County led the state with 145 new cases, Spartanburg County had the second most with 115, while Anderson County had the third most with 77.
In the Midlands, Richland County reported 63 new cases, while neighboring Lexington County added 52.
The deaths reported Friday occurred among individuals from Aiken (1), Charleston (1), Chesterfield (1), Florence (1), Greenville (2), Horry (2), Kershaw (1), Laurens (1), Newberry (1), Richland (1), Spartanburg (1) and York (2).
The individual who died in Aiken County was middle aged, DHEC reported, defined as between 35 and 64 years old. The rest were elderly, defined by DHEC as 65 years old and up.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
In recent weeks, parts of the country have hit a “third wave” of infections higher than the peaks seen in the spring and summer, leading to rising national numbers approaching 100,000 new cases per day.
So far, South Carolina has 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.
But S.C. officials issued a warning Thursday that parts of the state are experiencing rapid rises in key metrics, especially in the Upstate. And indicators such as daily case rates by population, percentage of positive tests and hospitalizations have all risen since August.
But while the rate of infection has risen, the rate of testing has declined as of late, especially from the highs reported in the middle of the summer, when DHEC was recording more than 10,000 tests per day.
Officials have said there has not been a reduction in testing capacity but in demand as “testing fatigue” sets in, and they’ve urged residents to get tested more regularly to hit testing goals.
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 Friday, health officials reported 105 new probable cases and one new probable death from COVID-19. That puts the total number of probable cases at 9,686 and total probable deaths at 257.
How are hospitals being impacted?
As of Friday, DHEC reported that 767 patients were hospitalized with coronavirus-related symptoms, or 9.22% 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.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 2:06 PM.
