Another day of more than 4,500 new coronavirus cases for SC, DHEC says.
State health officials on Saturday reported 4,576 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 52 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus.
The latest count of new cases is the second highest amount following Friday’s announcement of 4,986 new cases.
Cases have surged since December with days of more than 2,000 and 3,000 new daily cases occurring regularly. In the last two weeks, the state has had more than 4,000 new cases announced six times.
Since last March, the state has reported 320,105 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,267 coronavirus deaths.
South Carolina counts another 29,979 cases, including 81 reported Saturday, as probable positives, and another 491 deaths, including 12 reported Saturday, 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.
Nearly 30.4% of the 15,046 COVID-19 tests reported Friday were positive for the virus, according to DHEC. It’s the ninth time in the last nine days that the state’s positivity rate has exceeded 30%.
The state’s seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate, which provides an idea of how widespread infection is in a testing area, is the highest it has ever been.
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 last year advised governments not to reopen until percent positive rates were at 5% or lower for at least 14 days.
Roughly 16% of all COVID-19 tests administered in South Carolina since last 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.
Health officials said Saturday that South Carolina had received 232,900 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine and that 91,689 of those doses had been administered. Almost 15,000 more people were reported vaccinated from Friday to Saturday, according to DHEC.
Those doses are being administered to frontline health care workers and first responders and at long-term care facilities.
Frontline medical workers, residents of long-term care facilities and 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 an effort to speed up vaccinations, the pace of which lawmakers have criticized, DHEC announced plans Friday to make it easier for the elderly to receive coronavirus vaccines.
The agency said hospitals should now offer vaccinations to inpatients who are 65 and older who don’t have COVID-19.
“It is within our state’s best interest to allow hospitals to begin vaccinating their admitted patients who are aged 65 years and older,” said Brannon Traxler, DHEC’s interim health director. “By moving up these patients who are currently admitted in our hospitals we are ensuring that the most vulnerable among us are being vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
The move came after a push by hospital executives Thursday to loosen the restrictions on who can get vaccines, although Traxler said the decision was not a direct response to the frustrations the executives aired.
As South Carolina’s vaccine rollout continues, state health officials have advised residents to continue taking measures to mitigate spread of COVID-19.
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 declined slightly Saturday to 2,383.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 457 are in intensive care units, and 243 are on ventilators, according to DHEC. More than 25% of all South Carolina inpatients are currently being treated for COVID-19.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, reached 83% Saturday, while ICU bed occupancy was at more than 81%, data show.
In Richland County, 78% of hospital beds were occupied Saturday, and in Lexington County, 94% of beds are full, data show.
Which counties were affected?
COVID-19 cases in the Upstate are skyrocketing, outpacing all other South Carolina regions.
The Upstate’s seven-day average of new cases is more than 1,560, four times what it was in early November, 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 month.
In the Upstate Saturday, Greenville again led all counties with 723 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 312 and Pickens County with 155, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are below the Upstate’s numbers but also have surged since late November, spiking significantly in the past week. Richland led all Midlands counties Saturday with 348 cases, followed by Lexington with 228 and York with 278 cases.
The number of positive tests in the state’s Pee Dee and Lowcountry regions are well below the Upstate and the Midlands but have risen significantly in the past five weeks.
Horry (217) reported the most cases in the Pee Dee Saturday, while Charleston’s 250 cases were most in the Lowcountry. Beaufort had 97 cases.
By mid-afternoon Saturday, DHEC had not reported the age groups of the 52 who died.
South Carolinians from infants to age 106 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.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates are easily the highest they’ve ever been, up nearly 90% in the last month, with 67 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have also been increasing rapidly, with Saturday’s numbers more than 40% higher than they’ve been on average over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of people being tested across the state is also rising. An average of 234 tests per 100,000 individuals have been performed daily over the last 30 days, a 22% increase from the month prior, data show.
An average of 25.4% of those tests have come back positive in the past 30 days, far higher than the state’s cumulative 16.3% positivity average.
Overall, nearly 4 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 1:05 PM.