SC reports 3,599 new COVID-19 cases, 49 deaths Wednesday
South Carolina’s health officials Wednesday reported 3,599 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 49 deaths from the virus.
It’s the second-most coronavirus cases the state has ever reported in a day and the most deaths reported in a single day since early September.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control has now reported more than 3,000 cases four times this month and at least 2,000 daily cases for 20 of the last 21 days. Prior to the recent spike in cases, South Carolina had reported 2,000 or more daily cases only three times, and never on consecutive days.
Nearly one-quarter of the 261,024 confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Carolina since March have been recorded in the last 30 days, data show.
Of those South Carolinians infected, 667 have died from coronavirus complications during that span, bringing South Carolina’s cumulative death toll to 4,651, according to DHEC
Many others remain hospitalized.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which have risen sharply in recent weeks, reached a five-month high of 1,671 Wednesday, with coronavirus patients making up nearly 19% of all inpatients statewide, according to DHEC.
The state counts an additional 21,206 cases, including 104 Wednesday as probable positives, and an additional 377 deaths, including three Wednesday, 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.
State health officials said 22% of the 16,330 tests reported Wednesday came back positive.
The state’s seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate, which provides an idea of how widespread infection is in a testing area, is higher than it’s ever been.
Elevated percent positive rates indicate more people are likely to be 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 15% of all COVID-19 tests administered in South Carolina since March have come back positive, according to DHEC. The state’s seven-day percent positive rate briefly dipped below 5% in mid-May, but has otherwise remained well above the WHO’s guidelines for reopening.
Nearly 43,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine arrived in South Carolina last week and an additional 30,225 doses are expected this week, according to DHEC.
As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 20,000 South Carolinians, primarily frontline health care workers, had received doses, the agency said.
Residents and staff of long-term care facilities, who are being vaccinated exclusively with the Moderna vaccine, should start receiving their first doses next week, according to DHEC. Others who are at increased risk of contracting the virus or are at high risk of experiencing severe complications from it will be prioritized for vaccination over the next several months.
In the meantime, state health officials have advised South Carolinians to continue taking measures to mitigate spread of COVID-19 such as wearing masks, avoiding group gatherings and practicing physical distancing.
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.
How are hospitals being impacted?
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have exceeded 1,400 statewide for the past eight days, the highest sustained occupancy level since early August.
The 1,671 people in South Carolina reported hospitalized with the coronavirus Wednesday is the most in five months and the second-most ever reported. COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked at 1,723 people on July 23, according to DHEC.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19 Wednesday, 355 patients were in intensive care units and 142 were on ventilators.
A spokesman for the state Emergency Management Division said Wednesday that the agency has been in discussions with at least one health system about providing help with holiday staffing, but had not yet received any formal requests for support.
Earlier in the week, five Upstate health centers held a joint press conference to report that their ICUs were stretched almost to capacity and to urge community members to wear masks, socially distance and avoid gatherings. A Prisma Health physician said Monday that the number of COVID-19 patients at their four Midlands hospitals had risen about 50% since Thanksgiving, but that they still had adequate capacity and resources.
Total hospital bed occupancy and ICU bed occupancy remains steady at around 80%, with 80.4% of the state’s hospital beds and 79.3% of its ICU beds occupied.
In Richland County, 73.9% of hospital beds are occupied Wednesday, and in Lexington County, 94.5% of beds are taken, data show.
Which counties were affected?
COVID-19 cases in the Upstate have skyrocketed over the past two months, outpacing all other South Carolina regions.
The Upstate’s seven-day average of cases is 1,165, more than three times what it was early last month and twice what it was in July the last time cases statewide were spiking, 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 six weeks.
In the Upstate Wednesday, Greenville again led all counties with 702 COVID-19 cases — more than the entire state reported on three days last month — followed by Spartanburg County (287, second in the state); Pickens County (169, seventh in the state); and Anderson County (162, 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 Richland (266), Lexington (203), York (173) and Aiken (143) counties reporting the third, fourth, sixth and tenth-highest number of positive tests in the state Wednesday
The number of positive tests in the state’s Pee Dee region is well below the Upstate and the Midlands, but has risen significantly in the past month. Florence (198) and Horry (164) reported the most cases in the Pee Dee Wednesday.
The Lowcountry has the fewest new COVID-19 cases of any region in the state. Cases in the Lowcountry spiked in early December, but have leveled off over the past two-and-a-half weeks.
Charleston (99) and Beaufort (96) reported the highest case numbers in the Lowcountry Wednesday.
Of the 49 deaths reported for the day, 40 were elderly individuals (65 and older) and nine were middle-aged people (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 12 Spartanburg residents; nine Greenville residents; three residents each from Laurens, Marion and Pickens counties; two residents each from Aiken, Anderson, Charleston, Dillon, Florence, Marlboro and Williamsburg counties; and a single resident each from Cherokee, Horry, Oconee, Richland and York counties.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates are up nearly 96% in the past month and are currently the highest they’ve ever been, with 48 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 three weeks reported, are 47% 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 30 days, with an average of 222 tests per 100,000 individuals performed daily in the last month, a 40% increase from the month prior, data show.
An average of 19.5% of those tests have come back positive in the past 30 days.
Overall, more than 3.4 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 1:01 PM.