SC’s COVID hospitalizations hit new high, while cases fall short from reporting snag
On Tuesday, state health officials reported a new high for hospitalizations due to COVID-19, while for the second consecutive day, they announced artificially low COVID-19 case counts due to an “internal system issue.”
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control on Tuesday reported 1,361 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths from the virus.
DHEC again said it was working to correct the reporting problem and would update the COVID-19 case numbers when it was straightened out. The agency has yet to update Monday’s case numbers.
Since last March, the state has reported 328,028 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,358 coronavirus deaths.
South Carolina counts another 31,329 cases, including 22 Tuesday, as probable positives, and another 502 deaths, including 5 Tuesday, 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.
More than 30% of the 4,496 tests reported Tuesday were positive, according to DHEC. It’s the 10th time in the last two weeks 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 17% 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.
As of Tuesday, South Carolina had received 147,200 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 86,400 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, which is currently being reserved for residents and staff of long-term care facilities.
The agency reported Tuesday that 71,433 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 19,114 doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 15,309 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine have also been administered.
Health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff, and hospital inpatients over 65 are currently eligible to receive the vaccine. All South Carolinians age 70 and older will be able to schedule vaccination appointments starting Wednesday.
State health officials advise South Carolinians to continue taking measures to mitigate spread of COVID-19 as the vaccination rollout progresses in the months ahead.
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 set another record Tuesday, reaching 2,453, the 10th straight day they’ve exceeded 2,000. Coronavirus patients now comprise more than 27% of all state inpatients, according to DHEC.
A record 485 of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are in intensive care units, and 270 are on ventilators, according to DHEC.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, was at 81% Tuesday, while ICU bed occupancy was at nearly 80%, data show.
In Richland County, 75.5% of hospital beds were occupied Thursday, and in Lexington County, 89% 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 nearly 1,500, about 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 Tuesday, Greenville again led all counties with 158 COVID-19 cases, followed by Pickens County with 142, Anderson County with 83 and Spartanburg County with 78, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are below the Upstate’s numbers but also have surged since late November.
Lexington led all Midlands counties Tuesday with 55 cases, followed by Aiken with 53, Richland with 52 and York with 47 confirmed 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 (60) and Sumter (50) reported the most cases in the PeeDee Tuesday, while Orangeburg’s 38 cases were most in the Lowcountry, followed by 37 cases in Dorchester.
Of the 29 deaths reported Tuesday, 23 were elderly (65 and older) and six were middle-aged (35-64), according to DHEC.
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.
The deaths reported Tuesday included six Florence County residents; four residents each from Lexington and Marion counties; three residents each from Anderson and Orangeburg counties; two residents each from Darlington and Richland counties; and a single resident each from Bamberg, Beaufort, Calhoun, Chesterfield and Horry counties.
How are schools and long-term care facilities affected?
Nearly 150 COVID-19 cases in the past week are associated with schools, DHEC reported Tuesday.
State health officials, who report school-related cases twice weekly, documented 94 cases among students and 55 cases among staff since last week.
The numbers include kindergarten through 12th grade students and staff in both public and private schools, and count only individuals who attend school in person or are on campus on a regular basis.
Results from a rapid schools testing initiative that some districts are in the process of implementing are included in the counts.
A total of 7,561 school-related cases have been reported since Sept. 4, DHEC said.
Another 414 COVID-19 cases and 27 coronavirus deaths since Friday are associated with long-term care facilities, data show.
Facility residents account for 236 of the cases and all of the deaths, with the remaining 178 cases affecting staff members.
As of Tuesday, 214 facilities, or about 47%, were reporting an active outbreak, which DHEC defines as at least one resident or staff member cases within the past 14 days.
Since March, South Carolina has reported nearly 15,000 cases and 1,706 deaths associated with long-term care facilities. Residents have accounted for more than 60% of the cumulative cases and all but 28 of the deaths, according to DHEC.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates are easily the highest they’ve ever been, up nearly 70% in the last month, with 68 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are also at record highs, with Tuesday’s numbers 34% 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 228 tests per 100,000 individuals have been performed daily over the last 30 days, a 10% increase from the month prior, data show.
An average of 26.5% of those tests have come back positive in the past 30 days, far higher than the state’s cumulative 16.6% positivity average.
Overall, nearly 4.1 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 1:33 PM.