Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Carolina on Jan. 10
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in South Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases surpass 323,000
At least 323,855 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in South Carolina since March, and 5,315 have died, according to state health officials.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on Sunday reported 3,667 new COVID-19 cases, down from 4,576 reported the day before.
Forty-eight deaths were reported Sunday.
As of Sunday, 28.6% of COVID-19 tests in the state were positive. Health officials have said the number should be closer to 5%.
At least 2,374 people in South Carolina were hospitalized with the coronavirus Sunday.
More health care workers refuse vaccine than expected
South Carolina ranks 47th among states in its COVID-19 vaccination rate, and health care workers hesitant about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine have contributed to the sluggish pace.
The South Carolina Hospital Association, which advocates on behalf of the state’s hospital systems, is pushing for relaxed vaccination guidelines partly because hospitals are struggling to find enough frontline workers who want to be vaccinated, The State reports.
As of Friday, less than 71,000 of the 350,000 South Carolina residents who fall into Phase 1a, the state’s initial vaccination stage that includes frontline health care workers and long-term care facility residents and staff, had received a first dose of vaccine, according to the DHEC. Another 84,000 have scheduled an appointment.
SCHA spokesman Schipp Ames told The State that hospitals had asked that the DHEC allow them to start vaccinating people outside their own health systems after discovering vaccine vials often contained more doses than originally thought and that fewer eligible people than expected were willing to get the shot.
The state is set to begin offering the coronavirus vaccine to inpatients 65 and older who don’t have the virus, the DHEC said in a statement Friday, the day after some hospital executives asked that the department allow them to vaccinate certain groups who are not eligible under the first phase of the vaccine rollout.
“It is within our state’s best interest to allow hospitals to begin vaccinating their admitted patients who are aged 65 years and older,” Brannon Traxler, DHEC’s interim health director, said. “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.”
Three SC cities among worst COVID hotspots in the nation
Three communities in South Carolina are among the cities hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in the entire country, according to a new report from the White House COVID-19 Task Force, The State reported.
Greenville saw the most COVID-19 infections of any mid-size city in the U.S. — 7,242 —during a seven day span from Dec. 31 to Jan. 6. Spartanburg ranked 9 out of the 10 worst-hit mid-size cities, contributing 2,155 new coronavirus cases during the seven day period.
Of the smaller cities — those with populations between 50,000 to 250,000 — Florence ranks 5 with 1,669 cases.
COVID cases slowing in schools, data say. Some districts disagree
Data from the state health department show that coronavirus cases are falling among students and staff at K-12 schools, but some districts have their own data that disagrees, the Rock Hill Herald reported.
Friday, 58 new cases were reported in schools statewide.
However, Chester County schools report nearly three times that number, by their count, and Rock Hill schools saw more than 130 cases last week.
For a more in-depth breakdown, read the full story here.
This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 10:31 AM.
