SC reports fewest COVID-19 cases in more than 2 months Monday
State health officials reported fewer new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday than on any day in the past two months.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 1,510 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths from the virus. Monday’s confirmed case count is the state’s lowest since Dec. 1, when DHEC reported 1,297 confirmed cases.
DHEC reported that 7% of the 31,266 tests reported Monday came back positive. The agency calculates the positivity rate by taking the total number of positive viral tests and dividing it by the total number of tests taken. The number of cases is lower than the number of positive tests because some people take multiple tests.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which have declined steadily since reaching record highs in mid-January, dropped again Monday to 1,517, nearly 40% lower than their peak of 2,466 on Jan. 13.
Since last March, the state has reported 414,573 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6,881 deaths from the virus.
South Carolina counts an additional 53,830 cases, including 83 Monday, as probable positives, and another 809 deaths, including seven 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 425,150 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 354,500 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Monday that 302,936 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 114,713 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 81,379 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 14,858 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 65 and older are currently eligible to receive vaccinations.
In addition to the nearly 514,000 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, South Carolinians have scheduled another 407,000 vaccination appointments, 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.
To find a COVID-19 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 hit a recent low Monday, with coronavirus patients accounting for 17% of all hospital inpatients.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 354 are in intensive care units, and 211 are on ventilators, according to DHEC.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, was down Monday to 77%, while ICU bed occupancy was down to 75%, data show.
In Richland County, 74% of hospital beds were occupied Monday, and in Lexington County, 74% of beds are full, data show.
Which counties were affected?
COVID-19 cases have fallen sharply 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 780, the lowest it’s been in more than 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 two-and-a-half months.
In the Upstate Monday, Greenville again led all counties with 182 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 89 cases according to DHEC. Richland led all Midlands counties Monday with 132 cases, followed by Lexington with 95 cases.
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 reported 99 cases Monday, the most in the PeeDee, while Charleston County’s 121 cases were the highest in the Lowcountry.
Of the 34 confirmed deaths reported Monday, 30 were elderly (65 and older) and four were middle-aged individuals (35-64), according to DHEC.
South Carolinians from infancy to age 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 76, and the vast majority of those who died — 88% — were over 60, data show.
The deaths reported Monday included five residents each from Greenville and Horry counties; three residents each from Oconee and Pickens counties; two residents each from Bamberg, Greenwood and Lexington counties; and a single resident each from Anderson, Berkeley, Chesterfield, Colleton, Darlington, Dorchester, Kershaw, Marlboro, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda and Spartanburg counties.
How are schools and long-term care facilities affected?
More than 1,000 COVID-19 cases in the past week are associated with schools.
State health officials, who report school-related cases twice weekly, documented 821 cases among students and 243 cases among staff between Jan. 30 and Feb. 5.
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 have implemented are included in the counts.
A total of 10,423 school-related COVID-19 cases have been reported since Sept. 4, DHEC said.
Another 714 COVID-19 cases and 48 coronavirus deaths in the last week are associated with long-term care facilities, data show.
Facility residents account for 413 of the cases and all but one of the deaths, with the remaining 301 cases affecting staff members.
As of Friday, long-term care facilities had reported more than 2,100 COVID-19 cases and 151 deaths in the last month, a 19% increase in cases and a 57% increase in deaths from the month prior, according to DHEC.
In South Carolina, long-term care facility residents account for just 2.7% of the state’s roughly 413,000 COVID-19 cases, but about 26% of its virus deaths, data show.
Since March, South Carolina has reported nearly 17,700 cases and 1,821 deaths associated with long-term care facilities. Residents have accounted for more than 60% of the cumulative cases and all but 29 of the deaths, according to DHEC.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates have dropped 5% in the past month, with 71 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days, according to DHEC.
Coronavirus deaths, on the other hand, have risen considerably in recent weeks. DHEC has reported 1,951 virus deaths, or about 25% of the state’s cumulative death total, in the last 30 days.
The state’s seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate, which provides an idea of how widespread infection is in a testing area, is 9.7% and the 30-day positivity rate is nearly 12%.
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.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 2:05 PM.