SC’s COVID-19 death toll passes 6,000, as 88 new virus deaths reported Wednesday
More than 6,000 South Carolinians have now died due to coronavirus complications.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control on Wednesday reported 2,621 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 88 deaths from the virus, bringing South Carolina’s cumulative death toll from the pandemic to 6,030.
The number of COVID-19 deaths reported Wednesday is the second most ever reported in a single day, behind only the 93 confirmed virus deaths announced Jan. 15.
A quarter of the 10,470 COVID-19 tests reported Wednesday came back positive, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which reached record highs multiple times in the past few weeks, remain elevated at 2,140 Wednesday, but are down from their peak of 2,466 on Jan. 13. Coronavirus patients take up nearly 23% of all occupied S.C. hospital beds, data show.
Since last March, the state has reported 384,556 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
South Carolina counts an additional 42,675 cases, including 228 Wednesday, as probable positives, and another 643 deaths, including nine Wednesday, 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 Wednesday, South Carolina had received 341,250 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 281,100 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Wednesday that 194,145 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 57,130 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 45,425 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 297,453 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, 329,270 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 more than three weeks Wednesday at 2,140.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 437 are in intensive care units, and 281 are on ventilators, according to DHEC.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, was at 83% Wednesday, while ICU bed occupancy was at 79%, data show.
In Richland County, 76% of hospital beds were occupied Wednesday, and in Lexington County, 89% of beds are full, data show.
Which counties were affected?
Even as COVID-19 cases decline in all regions of the state, the Upstate continues to outpace all other South Carolina regions in its daily number of coronavirus cases.
The Upstate’s seven-day average of new daily cases is about 1,220, 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-and-a-half months.
Greenville led all counties in the Upstate Wednesday with 395 confirmed cases, followed by Pickens County with 98 cases, Anderson County with 97 cases and Spartanburg County with 93 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 975 daily cases. Richland led all Midlands counties Wednesday with 283 cases, followed by York with 162, Lexington with 136 and Aiken with 100 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 County (92) reported the most cases in the PeeDee Wednesday, while Charleston’s 126 and Dorchester’s 102 cases were most in the Lowcountry.
Of the 88 deaths reported Wednesday, 71 were elderly (65 and older) residents and 17 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 Wednesday included 17 Spartanburg County residents; 10 Anderson County residents; eight Greenville County residents; five residents each from Cherokee, Florence and Lexington counties; four Georgetown County residents; three residents each from Aiken, Lancaster, Pickens and Richland counties; two residents each from Berkeley, Greenwood, Horry, Laurens, Oconee and Sumter counties; and a single resident each from Barnwell, Beaufort, Charleston, Dillon, Dorchester, Hampton, Jasper, Kershaw, Marlboro and York counties.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates are up 47% in the past month compared to the month prior, with 81 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 seven 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 347 confirmed and probable deaths in the week that ended Jan. 9, according to DHEC. The agency has reported 1,506 virus deaths, or about 22.5% of the state’s cumulative death total, in 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 Wednesday is about 5% less than the average reported daily over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs Wednesday was about 2% lower than the 30-day average, and the number of coronavirus patients on ventilators was 11% higher than the average over the past month.
The number of people being tested across the state continues to rise. An average of 253 tests per 100,000 individuals have been performed daily over the last 30 days, an 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 25% and the 30-day positivity rate is nearly 28%.
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.
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 1:59 PM.