Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Carolina on Dec. 12

We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in South Carolina. Check back for updates.

More than 3,000 new cases for the second day

At least 231,363 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in South Carolina and 4,344 have died, according to state health officials.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on Saturday reported 3,047 new COVID-19 cases.

It was the second day in a row that South Carolina had more than 3,000 new cases, which is unprecedented since the coronavirus hit the state.

Twelve additional coronavirus-related deaths were reported Saturday.

As of Saturday, 1,250 people in South Carolina were hospitalized for the coronavirus. Last week was the first time in more than three months that COVID-19 patients had occupied more than 1,000 hospital beds statewide.

The percentage of positive tests was 23% on Saturday out of more than 13,000 tests. Health officials have said the number should be closer to 5% to slow the spread of the virus.

Upstate disproportionately affected by virus

About one in six new cases of the coronavirus were in Greenville County on Saturday, according to DHEC data.

Greenville again led all counties with 510 new COVID-19 cases of the near 3,000 across the state. Spartanburg County had the second most new cases with 217. Pickens County had 183 and Anderson County had 85.

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.

Over 1,000 Lexington-Richland 5 students in quarantine

More than 1,000 students in the Lexington-Richland 5 school district are currently in quarantine, according to data on the district’s own COVID-19 dashboard, The State reported.

The dashboard shows 113 staff members are also in quarantine.

Per policy, students and staff are required to quarantine if they have been in contact with someone who tests positive for the coronavirus.

Of the quarantined students, 617 are in middle or high school, and 404 are elementary level. The majority of the affected faculty — 65 of them — work at elementary schools, and 42 work at upper level schools.

Some states share where vaccines are going. SC isn’t one of them

North Carolina, Kentucky, Texas and others have told the public which hospitals and care providers will be receiving the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine when they arrive, but South Carolina is being tight lipped, the Island Packet reports.

Health care workers are at a high risk of catching the coronavirus, and so they’re at the front of the line to be inoculated — but in South Carolina, it’s unclear which health care facilities and systems will be selected first, and in what communities.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control recently denied a records request seeking that information, saying those records contained confidential proprietary information.

“I don’t know of any state thus far that has released the location names of where those vaccines are going to go to in their limited supply,” Stephen White, DHEC’s director of immunizations, said in early December.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tweeted that information out in November, and Washington, D.C., released a list of medical centers on Thursday.

“At this time, South Carolina considers providing the specific locations of limited quantities of vaccine a security risk, with regard to the possibility of theft or disruption to the state’s fair and equitable vaccine distribution plan,” DHEC spokeswoman Laura Renwick wrote in a statement Friday.

Renwick added that as production continues and the vaccines become available to the general public, the process will be more transparent.

This story was originally published December 12, 2020 at 12:53 AM.