SC marks fifth straight day with more than 2,000 COVID-19 cases Tuesday
South Carolina on Tuesday reported 2,115 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and four deaths from the virus, marking the fifth consecutive day of more than 2,000 cases.
Hospitalizations for the coronavirus also hit a grim milestone Tuesday, topping 1,100 statewide for the first time since August, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. Nearly a quarter of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are in intensive care units and 10% are on ventilators, data show.
Since March, nearly 221,000 people in South Carolina have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 4,253 have died, according to DHEC.
Before Saturday, South Carolina had never reported consecutive days with more than 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to DHEC.
The state counts another 15,993 cases, including 33 Tuesday, as probable positives, and another 332 deaths, including two Tuesday, as probable COVID-19 deaths.
DHEC defines a probable case as someone who has not received a lab test result, but has virus symptoms or a positive antibody test. Probable deaths are ones where the death certificate lists COVID-19 as the cause or a contributing factor to death, but the person was not tested for the virus.
The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive has also surged in the past week. Of the 11,214 tests reported Tuesday, 18.9% were positive.
The seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate, which provides an idea of how widespread infection is in a testing area, is at its highest point since mid-July.
Elevated percent positive rates indicate there are likely more people infected with COVID-19 in the community who have not yet been tested and that testing may 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.
Which counties were affected?
The Upstate continues to outpace all other South Carolina regions in COVID-19 cases since spiking last month.
Greenville County, the state’s most populous county, has reported more than twice as many cases as any other county in South Carolina over the past three weeks.
In the Upstate Tuesday, Greenville again led all counties with 371 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County (193, second in the state) and Anderson County (92, seventh in the state), according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are below the Upstate’s numbers, but also have surged in recent weeks with York (148) and Richland (135) counties reporting the third and fourth highest number of positive tests in the state Tuesday. Lexington (87) and Aiken (87) tied for the eighth highest number of cases.
The number of positive tests in the state’s Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions are well below the Upstate and the Midlands, but have been on a sharp upward trend for about the past 10 days.
Charleston and Florence reported 65 and 120 cases Tuesday, the most in their respective regions. Horry, also in the Pee Dee, reported 113 new confirmed cases.
Of the four deaths reported Tuesday, three were elderly individuals (65 and older) and one was middle-aged (35-64), according to DHEC.
South Carolinians of all ages have died after contracting COVID-19, but the disease has taken the greatest toll on elderly residents.
The average age of all South Carolinians who have died from coronavirus complications is 75, and the vast majority of those who died — 87% — were over 60, data show.
The deaths reported Tuesday included two Lexington County residents, one Oconee County resident and one Richland County resident.
How are hospitals being impacted?
DHEC reported 1,179 people in South Carolina were hospitalized for the coronavirus Tuesday, a 15% jump since Sunday, and the most since COVID-19 patients occupied 1,246 hospital beds on Aug. 15.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 peaked at 1,723 on July 23.
Coronavirus patients made up 13.7% of all reported inpatients in South Carolina Tuesday, the highest rate in more than three months, according to DHEC.
More than 23% of COVID-19 patients, or 276 people, are in intensive care units, and 10%, or 118 patients, are on ventilators.
Despite the recent increase in COVID-19 patients, hospital bed occupancy and ICU bed occupancy remain at around 80%, with 77.4% of the state’s hospital beds and 76% of its ICU beds occupied.
In Richland County, 71.1% of hospital beds are occupied Tuesday, and in Lexington County, 86.6% of beds are full, data show.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates have risen more than 67% in the past 30 days and are currently the highest they’ve ever been, with 33 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days and an average of 2,231 new cases per day over the past week.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which have topped 1,000 statewide for the past six days reported, are 35% higher Tuesday than they’ve been on average over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of people being tested across the state has shot up over the past month, with an average of 187 tests per 100,000 individuals performed daily in the last 30 days, a 28% increase from the month prior, data shows.
An average of 15.9% of those tests have come back positive in the past 30 days.
Overall, more than 2.9 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 2:02 PM.