SC reports record number of COVID-19 deaths Friday
South Carolina health officials reported a record high number of coronavirus deaths Friday, as hospitals across the state approach capacity and emergency departments are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control Friday announced 1,845 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 93 deaths from the virus. The highest previous single-day death toll the state has reported was 74, on two separate occasions.
The relatively low number of cases reported is due to an “internal systems error” that has affected one of DHEC’s vendors the entire week, the agency said. Officials said Thursday that the vendor was still working to resolve the problem and that the agency would provide a detailed update with a breakdown of this week’s COVID-19 case and death numbers “as they should’ve been reported” as soon as possible.
Of the 11,153 tests reported Friday, 16.5% came back positive, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which have hit record highs multiple times in the past two weeks, remained steady Friday at 2,424. Coronavirus patients continue to take up more than 25% of all occupied South Carolina hospital beds, data show.
Since last March, the state has reported 341,597 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,513 coronavirus deaths.
South Carolina counts another 34,370 cases, including 87 Friday, as probable positives, and another 524 deaths, including 11 Friday, 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.
As of Friday, South Carolina had received 195,200 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 117,900 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Friday that 98,449 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 21,421 doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 26,349 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. As of Wednesday, all South Carolinians age 70 and older are now also able to schedule vaccination appointments.
In addition to the 146,219 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, another nearly 163,000 people have schedule appointments to receive a shot, DHEC said.
Anyone eligible to receive a vaccine who would like to get one can use DHEC’s locator tool to find a provider with availability near you at www.scdhec.gov/vaxlocator.
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 were at 2,424 Friday, the fourth straight day they’ve exceeded 2,400.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 473 are in intensive care units, and 289 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, ticked up slightly to 84% Friday, while ICU bed occupancy was at more than 82%, data show.
In Richland County, 79% of hospital beds were occupied Friday, and in Lexington County, 90% of beds are full, data show.
Which counties were affected?
COVID-19 cases in the Upstate continue to outpace all other South Carolina regions.
The Upstate’s seven-day average of new cases is more than 1,530, nearly 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 two months and was recently ranked among the nation’s top COVID-19 hotspots.
In the Upstate Friday, Greenville again led all counties with 191 COVID-19 cases, followed by Anderson County (141), Spartanburg County (118) — another one of the country’s foremost coronavirus hotspots — and Pickens County (98), 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 Friday with 125 cases, followed by Richland with 119 and York with 117 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 six weeks.
Horry County (101) reported the most cases in the PeeDee Friday, while Beaufort’s 50 cases were most in the Lowcountry.
Of the 93 deaths reported Friday, 79 were elderly (65 and older), 13 were middle-aged (35-64) and one was a young adult (18-34) from Florence County, 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 Friday included 16 Greenville County residents; 11 Spartanburg County residents; seven residents each from Anderson and Florence counties; five residents each from Horry and Lexington counties; four residents each from Cherokee and Pickens counties; three residents each from Charleston, Oconee, Richland and York counties; two residents each from Darlington, Georgetown, Kershaw, Orangeburg and Williamsburg counties; and a single resident each from Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Calhoun, Chester, Colleton, Dillon, Greenwood, Lancaster, Laurens, Marion and Marlboro counties.
How are schools and long-term care facilities affected?
More than 350 COVID-19 cases in the past week are associated with schools, DHEC reported Friday.
State health officials, who report school-related cases twice weekly, documented 259 cases among students and 94 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 7,823 school-related cases have been reported since Sept. 4, DHEC said.
Another 725 COVID-19 cases and 32 coronavirus deaths in the last week are associated with long-term care facilities, data show.
Facility residents account for 431 of the cases and all of the deaths, with the remaining 294 cases affecting staff members.
Since last March, South Carolina has reported more than 15,000 cases and 1,711 deaths associated with long-term care facilities, or about 30% of the state’s coronavirus deaths.
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 75% in the last month, with 73.6 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days.
The state has reported at least 4,000 daily confirmed cases eight times in the past three weeks and at least 3,000 cases on 18 separate days since the beginning of December.
Before December, South Carolina had only reported 2,000 confirmed daily COVID-19 cases three times and never on consecutive days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are also experiencing record highs, with the number of coronavirus patients reported Friday nearly 25% higher than the average over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs Friday was 20% higher than the 30-day average, and the number of coronavirus patients on ventilators was 47% higher than the average over the past month.
The number of people being tested across the state is also rising. An average of 237 tests per 100,000 individuals have been performed daily over the last 30 days, a 12% increase from the month prior, data show.
The state’s seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate, which provides an idea of how widespread infection is in a testing area, is 29.5% and the 30-day positivity rate is 27.2%.
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.
Overall, more than 4.1 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 2:33 PM.