More than 60 people die from coronavirus with 3,400 new cases confirmed, DHEC says
State health officials reported 3,435 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 63 deaths from the virus Saturday.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control has reported more than 60 deaths in a reporting period five times in January. The latest deaths mostly happened between Jan. 15 and 21 but a handful were at earlier dates and are just now being confirmed. Most people who died were elderly but more than a dozen were middle aged. In 2020, more than 50 reported deaths would have be considered high.
Of the 14,494 tests reported Saturday, 23.7% came back positive.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which reached record highs multiple times in the past few weeks, remain elevated at 2,224 Saturday, but are down from their peak a week ago. Coronavirus patients take more than 23% of all occupied South Carolina hospital beds, data show.
Since last March, the state has reported 373,399 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,855 coronavirus deaths.
South Carolina counts another 40,390 cases, including 133 Saturday, as probable positives, and another 624 deaths, including 12 Saturday, 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 Saturday, South Carolina had received 274,950 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 267, 800 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Saturday that 174,255 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 41,192 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 40,838 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine have also been administered.
More than 44,000 doses were administered since Friday.
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 267,884 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, another 305,672 people have scheduled 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 Saturday to 2,224, the second consecutive time they’ve dropped below 2,300 in more than two weeks.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 445 are in intensive care units, and 283 are on ventilators, according to DHEC.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, was at 83% Saturday, while ICU bed occupancy was almost 81%, data show.
In Richland County, 78% of hospital beds were occupied Saturday, and in Lexington County, 90% of beds are full, data show.
Which counties were affected?
COVID-19 cases in the Upstate continue surge beyond 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 450 confirmed cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 245 cases and Anderson County with 181 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 County was among the most affected in the state Saturday with 403 new cases. Lexington County had 181 and York 169.
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 (167) and Florence (85) counties reported the most cases in the PeeDee Saturday, while Charleston’s 177 cases were highest in the Lowcountry, followed by 96 cases in Dorchester County.
Of the 63 deaths reported Saturday, 48 were elderly (65 and older) and 15 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 happened in these counties: Aiken (1), Anderson (1), Bamberg (1), Beaufort (3), Berkeley (3), Charleston (2), Cherokee (7), Chesterfield (1), Dorchester (1), Florence (2), Georgetown (1), Greenville (12), Greenwood (2), Laurens (2), Lexington (1), Newberry (1), Oconee (1), Orangeburg (2), Pickens (3), Richland (1), Spartanburg (11), Union (1), Williamsburg (1), York (2).
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 1,500 virus deaths, or about 25% 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 Saturday about 6% higher than the average over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs Saturday 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 4.6 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published January 23, 2021 at 1:32 PM.