COVID-19 spread indicator continues to rise in SC; one in four test positive Thursday
The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive has spiked this week, reaching nearly 24% Thursday, according to public health officials.
The seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate, which provides an idea of how widespread infection is in a testing area, is the highest it’s been since early September. The 23.8% percent positive rate reported Thursday is the second highest single-day rate since April, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The jump in test positivity comes as South Carolina public health officials on Thursday reported 1,754 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths from the virus.
Since March, more than 208,000 people in South Carolina have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 4,145 have died, according to DHEC.
The number of people being tested for COVID-19 jumped in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, but has fallen significantly since then. Testing over the past five days is down nearly 40% from the five days prior, according to DHEC.
As testing has dropped in recent days, the percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive has increased, as is typical when testing rates decline.
The spiking COVID-19 positivity rates indicate there are likely more people infected with COVID-19 in the community who have not yet been tested and that testing might need to be ramped up.
The World Health Organization earlier this year advised governments not to reopen until percent positive rates were at 5% or lower for at least 14 days.
Roughly 14% of all COVID-19 tests administered in South Carolina since March have come back positive, according to DHEC. The state’s 7-day percent positive rate briefly dipped below 5% in mid-May, but has otherwise remained well above the WHO’s guidelines for reopening.
DHEC urges anyone who is symptomatic or who has been exposed to someone with COVID-19 to get tested themselves, and recommends routine monthly testing for anyone who is out and about in the community, even if they are asymptomatic.
To find a testing location near you, visit DHEC’s website at scdhec.gov/covid19/covid-19-testing-locations.
The Upstate continues to see rising numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases. In that region, Greenville County had the most new cases Thursday with 187, followed by Pickens County (99, sixth in the state), Anderson County (87, seventh in the state) and Spartanburg County (83, eighth in the state), according to DHEC.
Horry County, in the Grand Strand region, had the third most new positive tests Thursday, with 143.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are below the Upstate’s numbers, but have risen rapidly in recent weeks with Richland (175), York (121) and Lexington (81) counties reporting the second, fourth and ninth highest number of positive tests in the state Thursday.
Charleston (105) was the only other county that reported more than 80 confirmed cases Thursday.
Of the deaths reported Thursday, 15 were elderly individuals (65 and older) and six were middle-aged (35-64), according to DHEC.
Eight deaths were reported in Spartanburg County; two deaths were reported in Cherokee County; and a single death was reported in Aiken, Charleston, Edgefield, Greenville, Greenwood, Hampton, Lexington, Oconee, Pickens, Sumter and Union counties
How are hospitals being impacted?
DHEC reported 1,046 people in South Carolina were hospitalized for the coronavirus Thursday, the most in more than three months.
It’s the fifth straight day that COVID-19 patients have occupied at least 900 hospital beds statewide and the first time they’ve occupied more than 1,000 beds since late August, according to DHEC.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 peaked at 1,723 on July 23.
Coronavirus patients made up 11.7% of all reported inpatients in South Carolina Thursday, the 10th straight day COVID-19 patients have occupied at least 10% of the state’s hospital beds, according to DHEC.
A quarter of COVID-19 patients, or 261 people, are in intensive care units, and 11%, or 111 patients, are on ventilators.
Despite the recent increase in COVID-19 patients, hospital bed occupancy and ICU bed occupancy remain at around 80%, with 80.3% of the state’s hospital beds and 78.9% of its ICU beds occupied.
In Richland County, 74% of hospital beds are occupied Thursday, and in Lexington County, 93% of beds are full, data show.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
A couple key COVID-19 metrics the state tracks to measure spread remain below the highs hit in July, but are trending up, data show.
Daily case rates have risen more than 50% in the past 30 days and hospitalizations are up about 25% from a month ago.
Despite the drop in testing over the past few days, the number of people being tested has been on the rise across the state over the past month. An average of 170 tests per 100,000 individuals have been performed daily in the last 30 days, a 20% increase from the month prior, according to DHEC.
An average of 14.5% of those tests have come back positive in the past 30 days.
Overall, more than 2.7 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 2:06 PM.