SC reports fewer than 2,000 COVID-19 cases Tuesday for first time since December
South Carolina health officials reported fewer than 2,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases Tuesday for the first time since late December.
The daily report included 1,993 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths from the virus, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
More than 21% of the 9,181 tests reported Tuesday came back positive, according to DHEC.
It’s the first time in 10 days that the percentage of tests coming back positive dipped below 22%.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which reached record highs multiple times in the past few weeks, remain elevated at 2,173 Tuesday, but are down from their peak of 2,466 on Jan. 13. Coronavirus patients take up nearly 24% of all occupied S.C. hospital beds, data show.
Since last March, the state has reported 381,812 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,944 coronavirus deaths.
South Carolina counts an additional 41,855 cases, including 22 Tuesday, as probable positives, and another 634 deaths, including two 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.
Vaccines distributed
As of Tuesday, South Carolina had received 351,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 281,100 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Tuesday that 184,487 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 52,949 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 43,088 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 753 second doses of the Moderna vaccine also have 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 more than 281,277 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, 318,409 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 their lowest total in three weeks Tuesday at 2,173, down about 12% from their peak nearly two weeks ago.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 440 are in intensive care units, and 279 are on ventilators, according to DHEC.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, was at 80% Tuesday, while ICU bed occupancy was at 78%, data show.
In Richland County, 73% of hospital beds were occupied Tuesday, and in Lexington County, 86% 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 1,280, the lowest it’s been in the new year, according to DHEC.
Greenville County, the state’s most populous county, has reported more than twice as many COVID-19 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.
Greenville led all counties in the Upstate Tuesday with 292 confirmed cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 216 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 980 daily cases. Richland led all Midlands counties Tuesday with 145 cases, followed by York with 124, Lexington with 113 and Aiken with 95 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 still above where they were before the holiday season spike.
Horry (95) and Florence (82) counties reported the most cases in the PeeDee Tuesday, while Charleston’s 101 cases were most in the Lowcountry.
Of the 24 deaths reported Tuesday, 19 were elderly (65 and older) residents and five were middle-aged (35-64), 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 Tuesday included four Florence County residents; three residents each from Beaufort, Lexington, Orangeburg and Richland counties; two residents each from Darlington and Horry counties; and a single resident each from Chesterfield, Greenville, Kershaw and Marion counties.
How are schools and long-term care facilities affected?
Nearly 770 COVID-19 cases in the past week are associated with schools, according to DHEC.
State health officials, who report school-related cases twice weekly, documented 600 cases among students and 139 cases among staff this past 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.
Included in the count are positive COVID-19 results obtained from a rapid schools testing initiative the governor announced last month that some districts are in the process of implementing, DHEC said.
A total of 8,849 school-related cases have been reported since Sept. 4, according to DHEC.
State health officials, who also report COVID-19 cases at long-term care facilities twice weekly, documented 860 cases and 32 deaths among residents and staff in the past week.
Facility residents account for 511 of the cases and all of the deaths, with the remaining 349 cases affecting staff members.
As of Tuesday, 235 of South Carolina’s long-term care facilities, or about half, were reporting an active outbreak, which DHEC defines as at least one resident or staff member case within the past 14 days.
Since last March, more than 16,600 cases and 1,750 deaths, or more than a quarter of the state’s coronavirus deaths, have been associated with long-term care facilities in South Carolina.
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 up 45% in the past month compared to the month prior, with 80 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days, according to DHEC.
The state has reported at least 4,000 daily confirmed cases 10 times this month and at least 3,000 cases on all but six 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 336 confirmed and probable deaths in the week that ended Jan. 9, according to DHEC. The agency has reported nearly 1,430 virus deaths, or about 22% of the state’s cumulative death total, in just the last 30 days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are beginning to drop from their record highs of a couple weeks ago. The number of coronavirus inpatients reported Tuesday is slightly less than the average reported daily over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs Tuesday was about 1% lower than the 30-day average, and the number of coronavirus patients on ventilators was 12% higher than the average over the past month.
The number of people being tested across the state continues to rise. An average of 249 tests per 100,000 individuals have been performed daily over the last 30 days, an 8% 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 25% and the 30-day positivity rate is 27.8%.
Elevated percent positive rates indicate more people are likely 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.
More than 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 4.7 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 1:21 PM with the headline "SC reports fewer than 2,000 COVID-19 cases Tuesday for first time since December."