SC reports 2,139 COVID cases, 26 deaths Wednesday
South Carolina on Wednesday reported 2,139 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 26 deaths from the virus.
The state has now reported at least 2,000 daily coronavirus cases for each of the past six days. Until the recent surge in cases, South Carolina had never reported consecutive days with more than 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Since March, more than 223,000 people in South Carolina have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 4,280 have died.
The state counts another 16,304 cases, including 71 Wednesday, as probable positives, and another 332 deaths, including one Wednesday, 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.
Hospitalizations for the coronavirus, which are up more than 60% from a month ago, eclipsed 1,200 statewide Wednesday for the first time since August, according to DHEC.
The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive has also jumped in the past week. Of the 10,411 tests reported Wednesday, 20.5% 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.
More than 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?
All four South Carolina regions have experienced a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases over the past week, but the Upstate continues to outpace the state’s other regions in COVID-19 cases.
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 Wednesday, Greenville again led all counties with 345 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County (141, fourth in the state) and Anderson County (111, seventh in the state), according to DHEC.
Midlands counties, where cases have been on a steady climb since late October, ranked second (York, 175), third (Richland, 172) and sixth (Lexington, 121) statewide in daily COVID-19 case counts Wednesday.
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 Horry reported 71 and 140 cases Wednesday, the most in their respective regions. Florence, also in the Pee Dee, reported 86 new confirmed cases.
Of the 26 deaths reported Wednesday, 19 were elderly individuals (65 and older) and seven were 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 Wednesday included six Spartanburg County residents; three residents each from Aiken and Greenville counties; two residents each from Darlington, Georgetown, Laurens and Pickens counties; and a single resident from Cherokee, Chesterfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Union and Williamsburg counties.
How are hospitals being impacted?
DHEC reported 1,217 people in South Carolina were hospitalized for the coronavirus Wednesday, a 63% jump from one month ago, 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 13.4% of all reported inpatients in South Carolina Wednesday, the 15th consecutive day they’ve made up at least 10% of the state’s inpatient population, according to DHEC.
More than 22% of COVID-19 patients, or 275 people, are in intensive care units, and 10.5%, or 128 patients, are on ventilators. The number of ventilated patients reported Wednesday is the most statewide in at least 30 days.
Hospital bed and ICU bed occupancy were at 81.2% and 79.3%, respectively, on Wednesday, some of the higher rates reported in the past month, according to DHEC.
In Richland County, 71.9% of hospital beds are occupied Wednesday, and in Lexington County, 91.4% of beds are full, data show.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates, which have averaged 2,306 over the past week, have risen more than 74% in the past 30 days and are currently the highest they’ve ever been, with 34 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which have topped 1,000 statewide for the past seven days reported, are 40% higher Wednesday 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 189 tests per 100,000 individuals performed daily in the last 30 days, a 31% increase from the month prior, data shows.
An average of 16.1% 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 9, 2020 at 1:26 PM.