SC reports more than 200 COVID-19 deaths Monday
State health officials Monday reported 210 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, bringing the state’s announced death toll to 673 in the past week.
It’s the second most confirmed deaths ever reported in a single day, behind only the 226 announced Thursday.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control said the counts on both days include deaths that had accumulated from weeks prior but were not immediately reported due to an internal computer system upgrade issue.
In addition to the more than 200 confirmed deaths, DHEC on Monday also reported another 2,130 new confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Nearly 22% of the 9,870 COVID-19 tests reported Monday came back positive, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which have been declining steadily since reaching record highs in mid-January, remained steady at 1,842 Monday. The number of patients hospitalized with the coronavirus peaked at 2,466 on Jan. 13.
Since last March, the state has reported 398,892 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6,564 deaths from the virus.
South Carolina counts an additional 47,024 cases, including 23 Monday, as probable positives, and another 719 deaths, including 32 Monday, 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 Monday, South Carolina had received 341,250 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 316,000 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Monday that 251,411 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 95,506 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 62,684 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 9,069 second doses of the Moderna vaccine also have been administered.
Administrations of the Moderna vaccine currently lag behind Pfizer administrations because until recently Moderna shots had been used exclusively to vaccinate long-term care facility residents and staff as part of a federal pharmacy partnership. In recent weeks, the Moderna vaccine, which does not have the same ultra-cold storage requirements as the Pfizer vaccine, has been shipped to pharmacies, federally qualified health centers and other providers, and its uptake is expected to increase.
Health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff, hospital inpatients over 65 and all people age 70 and older are currently eligible to receive vaccinations. The governor said Monday he’d like to see those age 65-69 receive next preference when the pool of individuals eligible for the vaccine next expands.
In addition to the nearly 420,000 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, almost 374,000 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. For those who lack internet access, DHEC recently launched a phone line — 866-365-8110 — where operators are available every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to help people searching for information about vaccine providers.
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 remained stead at 1,842 Monday, with coronavirus patients accounting for just under 21% of all hospital inpatients.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 391 are in intensive care units, and 240 are on ventilators, according to DHEC.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, was down Monday to 78.5%, while ICU bed occupancy was down to 76%, data show.
In Richland County, 72% of hospital beds were occupied Monday, and in Lexington County, 82% of beds are full, data show.
Which counties were affected?
COVID-19 cases have fallen in all regions over the past few weeks, but remain highest in the Upstate.
The Upstate’s seven-day average of new cases is nearly 1,100, the lowest its been in nearly two months, 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 month.
In the Upstate Monday, Greenville again led all counties with 288 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 154, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are slightly below the Upstate’s numbers, with a seven-day average of 900 new cases, according to DHEC. York led all Midlands counties Monday with 148 cases, followed by Richland with 143, Aiken with 103 and Lexington with 93.
The number of positive tests in the state’s Pee Dee and Lowcountry regions are below the Upstate and the Midlands, but slightly elevated from where they had been prior to a surge in cases over the holidays.
Horry County (122) reported the most cases in the PeeDee Monday, while Charleston County’s 135 cases were most in the Lowcountry, followed by Beaufort County’s 89 cases.
Of the 210 confirmed deaths reported Monday, 179 were elderly (65 and older) and 31 were middle-aged (35-64), according to DHEC.
South Carolinians from age 0 to 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 Monday included 17 Greenville County residents, 16 residents each from Spartanburg and Horry counties; 14 Lexington County residents; 12 Anderson County residents; 11 Richland County residents; 10 Charleston County residents; eight Laurens County residents; seven residents each from Greenwood, Oconee, Pickens and Sumter counties; six residents each from Beaufort, Kershaw and Orangeburg counties; five residents each from Aiken, Colleton, Dorchester, Florence, Newberry and Williamsburg counties; four residents each from Edgefield and Georgetown counties; two residents each from Berekeley, Cherokee, Darlington, Dillon, Hampton, Saluda and York counties; and a single resident each from Bamberg, Barnwell, Chester, Clarendon, Fairfield, Jasper, Lancaster and Marion counties.
How are schools and long-term care facilities affected?
Nearly 900 COVID-19 cases in the past week are associated with schools.
State health officials, who report school-related cases twice weekly, documented 699 cases among students and 195 cases among staff between Jan. 22 and Jan. 29.
A total of 9,359 school-related COVID-19 cases have been reported since Sept. 4, DHEC said.
Another 729 COVID-19 cases and 38 coronavirus deaths in the last week are associated with long-term care facilities, which have seen a spike in coronavirus infections and deaths in the last 30 days, data show.
Facility residents account for 446 of the cases and all of the deaths, with the remaining 283 cases affecting staff members.
In South Carolina, long-term care facility residents account for less than 3% of the state’s roughly 400,000 COVID-19 cases, but about 25% of its virus deaths, data show.
Since March, South Carolina has reported nearly 17,000 cases and 1,773 deaths associated with long-term care facilities. Residents have accounted for nearly two-thirds of the cumulative cases and all but 28 of the deaths, according to DHEC.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates have dropped recently, but are still up more than 27% 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.
Coronavirus deaths also have risen considerably in recent weeks, reaching weekly highs in each of the past four weeks, according to DHEC. The agency has reported 1,861 virus deaths, or about 25.5% of the state’s cumulative death total, in the last 30 days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the way down after reaching record highs a few weeks ago. The number of coronavirus inpatients reported Monday is about 19% less than the average reported daily over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs Monday was about 14% lower than the 30-day average, and the number of coronavirus patients on ventilators was 11% lower than the average over the past month.
The number of people being tested across the state has risen slightly in the past month. An average of 256 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 24.3% and the 30-day positivity rate is nearly 27%.
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 17.5% 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 February 1, 2021 at 3:50 PM.