SC reports 2,570 COVID-19 cases Tuesday, lowest daily total in 2 weeks
State health officials Tuesday reported 2,570 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths from the virus.
It’s the lowest daily case total in two weeks and the second consecutive day that fewer than 3,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported.
The state’s moving seven-day average of COVID-19 cases is 3,759, down about 25% since from its peak of more than 5,000 cases about 10 days ago, according to the State Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Of the 10,773 tests reported Tuesday, 23.9% came back positive, the fifth straight day that percent positivity has remained below 24%, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which reached record highs multiple times in the past couple weeks, remain elevated at 2,353 Tuesday, but are down slightly from their peak about a week ago. Coronavirus patients take up about 26% of all occupied South Carolina hospital beds, data show.
Since last March, the state has reported 357,508 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,673 coronavirus deaths.
Probable cases, vaccines distributed
South Carolina counts another 36,810 cases, including 23 Tuesday, as probable positives, and another 586 deaths 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 Tuesday, South Carolina had received 200,075 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 117,900 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Tuesday that 108,590 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 26,009 doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 29,201 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 Jan. 13, all South Carolinians age 70 and older are now also able to schedule vaccination appointments.
In addition to the 163,800 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, another nearly 209,000 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 2,353 Tuesday, the 15th straight day they’ve exceeded 2,300. COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked at 2,466 last Wednesday and have trended down slightly since then.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 483 are in intensive care units, and 313 are on ventilators, according to DHEC. About 26% of all South Carolina inpatients are currently being treated for COVID-19.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, has ticked down slightly in recent days. As of Tuesday, 79% of South Carolina hospital beds and ICU beds were occupied, data show.
Hospital bed occupancy is also down slightly in Richland and Lexington counties, where 75% and 83% of hospital beds, respectively, were occupied Tuesday, according to DHEC.
Which counties were affected?
COVID-19 cases in the Upstate continue to outpace all other South Carolina regions, but are dropping.
The Upstate’s seven-day average of new cases is about 1,250, far higher than it was two months ago, but the lowest its been in the new year, 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. Among South Carolina counties, Greenville County is second only to Pickens County in its per capita rate of COVID-19 infection over the last two months.
In the Upstate Tuesday, Greenville again led all counties with 296 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County (202) — another one of the country’s foremost coronavirus hotspots — Pickens County (114), Anderson County (107) and Greenwood County (94), according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are now only slightly below the Upstate’s numbers, with a seven-day average of 1,130.
York led all Midlands counties Tuesday with 172 cases, followed by Richland with 127, Lexington with 106 and Aiken with 96 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 since the beginning of December.
Horry (115), Florence (94) and Darlington (89) counties reported the most cases in the PeeDee Tuesday, while Charleston’s 127 and Dorchester’s 90 cases were the highest reported among Lowcountry counties.
Of the 11 deaths reported Tuesday, all were elderly residents (65 and older), 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 the elderly.
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 three Richland County residents; two Florence County residents; and a single resident each from Aiken, Berkeley, Charleston, Lexington, Newberry and Orangeburg counties.
How are schools and long-term care facilities affected?
More than 500 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 392 cases among students and 157 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 8,080 school-related cases have been reported since Sept. 4, DHEC said.
Another 614 COVID-19 cases and 12 coronavirus deaths in the last week are associated with long-term care facilities, data show.
As of Tuesday, 216 of the state’s 464 long-term care facilities, or about 47%, had active COVID-19 outbreaks.
DHEC defines an active outbreak as one or more COVID-19 cases among residents or staff within the past two weeks.
Facility residents account for 382 of the last week’s cases and all of the deaths, with the remaining 232 cases affecting staff members.
Since last March, South Carolina has reported nearly 16,000 cases and 1,718 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 the highest they’ve ever been, up 63% in the last month, with 77 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 10 times this month and at least 3,000 cases on 15 days in January.
Before December, South Carolina had only reported 2,000 confirmed daily COVID-19 cases three times and never on consecutive days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have also remained elevated the past couple weeks, with the number of coronavirus patients reported Tuesday nearly 14% higher than the average over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs Tuesday was 17% higher than the 30-day average, and the number of coronavirus patients on ventilators was 43% higher than the average over the past month.
The number of people being tested across the state is also rising. An average of 249 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 22.1% and the 30-day positivity rate is 27%.
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 4.4 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 2:18 PM with the headline "SC reports 2,570 COVID-19 cases Tuesday, lowest daily total in 2 weeks."