SC reports 2,364 COVID cases, 11 deaths Monday as vaccine arrives in state
South Carolina on Monday reported 2,364 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths from the virus, as limited shipments of a coronavirus vaccine began to arrive at several health care facilities around the state.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control has now reported more than 2,000 daily cases in 10 of the past 11 days. Prior to the spike in cases this month, South Carolina had not reported consecutive days with more than 2,000 confirmed cases.
Since March, nearly 237,000 people in South Carolina have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 4,398 have died, data show.
The state counts another 17,991 cases, including 14 Monday as probable positives, and another 353 deaths, including one Monday, 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 have risen sharply in recent weeks, and on Monday COVID-19 patients made up nearly 15% of all inpatients statewide, according to DHEC. The number of COVID-19 patients occupying intensive care unit beds and hooked up to ventilators also hit 30-day highs Monday, according to hospital data.
State health officials Monday announced the receipt of an initial shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine, which received emergency use authorization Friday. Nearly 43,000 doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive by Wednesday and between 200,000 and 300,000 doses should reach South Carolina by year’s end, according to DHEC.
The state’s vaccination plan 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 advised South Carolinians to continue wearing masks, keep safe distances from others, avoid congregating indoors and get tested for COVID-19.
DHEC reported another 11,633 tests Monday, of which 20.3% 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 14.6% 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, outpacing all other South Carolina regions.
The Upstate’s 7-day average of cases is approaching 1,100, nearly three times what it was early last month and twice what it was in July when cases statewide were spiking, according to DHEC.
Greenville County, the state’s most populous county, has reported nearly twice as many cases as any other county in South Carolina over the past month.
In the Upstate Monday, Greenville again led all counties with 414 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County (240, second in the state), Pickens (128, sixth in the state) and Anderson County (121, seventh in the state) and, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are below the Upstate’s numbers, but also have surged in recent weeks with Lexington (151), Richland (142) and York (115) counties reporting the third, fourth and eighth highest number of positive tests in the state Monday.
The number of positive tests in the state’s Pee Dee and Lowcountry regions are well below the Upstate and the Midlands, but have been rising for the past month.
Florence (137) and Horry (108) reported the most cases in the PeeDee Monday, while no Lowcountry counties reported more than 49 cases.
Of the 11 deaths reported Monday, eight were elderly individuals (65 and older), two were middle-aged (35-64) and one was a young adult (18-34) from Chester 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 Monday included two residents each from Greenville and Lexington counties; and a single resident from each of Chester, Fairfield, Florence, Orangeburg, Spartanburg, Sumter and York counties.
How are hospitals being impacted?
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 are still about 26% below where they peaked in July, but have gradually been climbing for the past month.
The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide on Monday was 1,276, according to DHEC.
While that’s down two from the day before, the percentage of hospital beds occupied by coronavirus patients increased Monday to nearly 15%, a recent high.
More than 24% of COVID-19 patients, or 307 people, are in intensive care units, and 11%, or 140 patients, are on ventilators, both 30-day highs.
Total hospital bed occupancy and ICU bed occupancy were down again Monday, with 78% of the state’s hospital beds and 76.9% of its ICU beds occupied.
In Richland County, 70.5% of hospital beds are occupied Monday, and in Lexington County, 87.1% of beds are full, data show.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates have risen more than 84% in the past month and are currently the highest they’ve ever been, with 40 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 13 days reported, are 35% higher Monday 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 207 tests per 100,000 individuals performed daily in the last 30 days, a 41% increase from the month prior, data shows.
An average of 17.2% of those tests have come back positive in the past 30 days.
Overall, more than 3.1 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 2:34 PM.