SC shatters daily COVID case record; reports 3,137 cases, 42 deaths Friday
South Carolina shattered its previous high in daily COVID-19 cases Friday, reporting 3,137 new confirmed cases and 42 additional deaths from the virus.
It’s the first time the state has reported more than 3,000 confirmed cases in a single day and is 422 more cases than the previous daily high, set last Saturday, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Nearly 17,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in the past week, about 3,200 more than during any distinct seven-day period since the start of the pandemic, according to DHEC.
Since March, more than 228,000 people in South Carolina have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 4,332 have died, according to DHEC.
The state counts another 16,965 cases, including 80 Friday as probable positives, and another 341 deaths, including five Friday, as probable COVID-19 deaths.
DHEC defines a probable case as someone who has had a positive antigen test or has virus symptoms and is at high risk for infection. Probable deaths are ones where the death certificate lists COVID-19 as the cause of or a contributing factor to death, but the person was not tested for the virus.
Hospitalizations for the coronavirus, which are up nearly 60% from a month ago, continued to climb Friday and have now hit three-month highs in each of the past four days, according to DHEC. Nearly 23% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are in intensive care units and 10% are on ventilators, data show.
In wake of Friday’s record case spike, public health officials released a message urging residents to continue taking actions to mitigate spread of the novel coronavirus.
“It is within all of our powers to stop COVID-19,” state epidemiologist Linda Bell said in a statement Friday. “As we each wait patiently for our turn to receive the COVID-19 vaccines, let’s keep doing our part by wearing our masks and practicing social distancing.”
State health officials have said they anticipate receiving an initial shipment of Pfizer’s vaccine, which is expected to receive emergency use authorization Friday, between Monday and Wednesday of next week. Doses of the Moderna vaccine, which could receive Food and Drug Administration approval as early as next week, are expected to arrive in South Carolina the following week.
South Carolina is currently estimated to receive between 200,000 and 300,000 doses of vaccine by year’s end, according to DHEC.
The state’s vaccination plan, which was updated last week, prioritizes front line medical workers and residents of long-term care facilities to receive the first doses. followed by people at increased risk of contracting the virus or at high risk of experiencing severe complications from it.
Because the general public likely won’t be able to get vaccinated for a number of months, state health officials have encouraged South Carolinians to continue wearing masks, keep safe distances from others, avoid congregating indoors and limit contact with anyone outside their household.
“While the arriving vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel, it will be months before there is enough vaccine available for everyone,” Brannon Traxler, DHEC interim public health director, said in a statement. “It is incumbent upon all of us to continue to take actions aimed at saving lives.”
Among the things health officials encourage residents to do is get tested for COVID-19, and stay home when sick or following an exposure to the virus.
The rate of people being tested for COVID-19, which has risen markedly in the past month, peaked Friday when a record 16,897 tests were reported. Of those tests, 18.6% were positive, according to DHEC.
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 14.5% 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?
COVID-19 cases in the Upstate are skyrocketing and outpace all other South Carolina regions.
The Upstate’s 7-day average of cases is now greater than 1,000, nearly three times what it was early last month, according to DHEC.
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 four weeks.
In the Upstate Friday, Greenville again led all counties with 535 COVID-19 cases — more than the entire state reported as recently as last month — followed by Spartanburg County (346, second in the state), Anderson County (126, sixth in the state) and Pickens (119, ninth 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 (237) and Richland (154), Aiken (140) and Lexington (125) counties reporting the third and fourth, fifth and seventh highest number of positive tests in the state Friday.
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.
Beaufort and Charleston on Friday reported 106 and 97 confirmed cases, respectively, the highest in the Lowcountry.
Florence (123), Horry (86) and Sumter (81) reported the most cases in the PeeDee.
Of the 42 deaths reported Friday, 40 were elderly individuals (65 and older), one was middle-aged (35-64) and one was a young adult (18-34) from York County, 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 Friday included six Spartanburg County residents; five residents each from Anderson, Greenville and Pickens counties; four Horry County residents; three Berkeley County residents; two residents each from Dorchester and Lancaster counties; and a single resident from each of Aiken, Cherokee, Clarendon, Lexington, Oconee, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter, Williamsburg and York counties.
How are hospitals being impacted?
The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide, which has been gradually climbing for the past month, reached 1,234 Friday, 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, according to DHEC.
Coronavirus patients made up more than 13% of all reported inpatients in South Carolina Friday for the fourth straight day, data show.
Nearly 23% of COVID-19 patients, or 282 people, are in intensive care units, and 10%, or 124 patients, are on ventilators.
Total hospital bed occupancy and ICU bed occupancy has ticked slightly higher in recent days, with 82.2% of the state’s hospital beds and 78.5% of its ICU beds occupied.
In Richland County, 75.4% of hospital beds are occupied Thursday, and in Lexington County, 94.5% of beds are full, data show.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates have risen more than 83% in the past month and are currently the highest they’ve ever been, with 37 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 10 days reported, are 37% higher Friday 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 197 tests per 100,000 individuals performed daily in the last 30 days, a 38% increase from the month prior, data show.
An average of 16.5% of those tests have come back positive in the past 30 days.
Overall, more than 3 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 1:53 PM.