SC reports more than 3,500 COVID-19 cases, 23 deaths Friday
State health officials Friday reported 3,528 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths from the virus.
Of the 12,418 tests reported Friday, 28.4% came back positive. It’s the first time in a week that percent positivity has exceeded 25%.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which reached record highs multiple times in the past few weeks, remain elevated at 2,293 Friday, but are down from their peak a week ago. Coronavirus patients take up more than 24% of all occupied South Carolina hospital beds, data show.
Since last March, the state has reported 369,782 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,791 coronavirus deaths.
South Carolina counts another 39,406 cases, including 97 Friday, as probable positives, and another 613 deaths, including eight 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.
Vaccines distributed
As of Friday, South Carolina had received 274,950 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 149,400 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Friday that 145,216 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 30,139 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 36,434 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 211,789 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, another 269,856 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 down Friday to 2,293, the first time they’ve dropped below 2,300 in more than two weeks.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 460 are in intensive care units, and 311 are on ventilators, according to DHEC.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, was at 83% Friday, while ICU bed occupancy was just above 80%, data show.
In Richland County, 78.5% of hospital beds were occupied Friday, and in Lexington County, 88% 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 daily cases is about 1,510, far higher than it was two months ago, but lower than it’s been for most of 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 Friday, Greenville led all counties with 494 confirmed cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 336 cases and Anderson County with 164 cases, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are elevated, but remain below the Upstate’s numbers, with a seven-day average of about 1,080 daily cases. Richland and York tied for the lead among Midlands counties Friday with 220 cases each, followed by Lexington County with 171 cases and Aiken County with 113 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 late last year.
Horry (163) and Florence (126) counties reported the most cases in the PeeDee Friday, while Charleston’s 234 cases were highest in the Lowcountry, followed by 111 cases in Dorchester County.
Of the 23 deaths reported Friday, 18 were elderly (65 and older) and five were middle-aged (35-64) people, according to DHEC.
South Carolinians as young as infants and as old as 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 five Florence County residents; two residents each from Aiken, Marlboro, Pickens and Richland counties; and a single resident each from Berkeley, Colleton, Georgetown, Greenville, Horry, Lexington, Oconee, Orangeburg, Union and York counties.
How are schools affected?
More than 640 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 484 cases among students and 158 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 8,465 school-related cases have been reported since Sept. 4, DHEC said.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates continue to increase and are up 61% in the last month, with 80.5 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 all but four days in January.
Before December, South Carolina had only reported 2,000 confirmed daily COVID-19 cases three times and never on consecutive days.
Coronavirus deaths also have risen in recent weeks, reaching a weekly record high of 334 confirmed and probable deaths in the week that ended Jan. 9, according to DHEC. The agency has reported nearly 1,400 virus deaths, or about 20% of the state’s cumulative death total, in just the last 30 days
COVID-19 hospitalizations have also remained elevated the past couple weeks, with the number of coronavirus patients reported Friday about 6% higher than the average over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs Friday was 7% higher than the 30-day average, and the number of coronavirus patients on ventilators was 33% higher than the average over the past month.
The number of people being tested across the state is also rising. An average of 254 tests per 100,000 individuals have been performed daily over the last 30 days, a 13% 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 24.8% and the 30-day positivity rate is 27.5%.
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 4.5 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published January 22, 2021 at 2:20 PM.