SC reports 1,372 COVID-19 cases, 4 deaths Tuesday
For the second day in a row, state health officials reported a two-month low in new confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control Tuesday announced 1,372 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and four virus deaths.
DHEC reported that 10.1% of the 19,498 tests reported Tuesday 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 Tuesday to 1,465, more than 40% lower than their peak of 2,466 on Jan. 13.
Since last March, the state has reported 416,073 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6,885 deaths from the virus.
South Carolina counts an additional 54,238 cases, including 40 Tuesday, as probable positives, and another 808 deaths 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 532,350 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 415,400 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Tuesday that 308,769 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 162,084 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 81,943 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 24,706 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 577,502 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, South Carolinians have scheduled another 410,000 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.
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 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 Tuesday, with coronavirus patients accounting for just under 17% of all hospital inpatients.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 348 are in intensive care units, and 208 are on ventilators, according to DHEC.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, was at 77% Tuesday, while ICU bed occupancy was at 76%, data show.
In Richland County, 71% of hospital beds were occupied Tuesday, and in Lexington County, 83% 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 about 750, 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 Tuesday, Greenville again led all counties with 136 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 90 cases, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are just below the Upstate’s numbers, with a seven-day average of 680 cases, the lowest in more than two months.
Richland led all Midlands counties Tuesday with 108 cases, followed by York with 102 cases and Lexington with 66 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 112 cases Tuesday, the most in the PeeDee, followed by Florence County with 71 cases. Charleston County’s 67 cases were the highest number of cases in the Lowcountry.
Of the four confirmed deaths reported Tuesday, three were elderly (65 and older) and one was a middle-aged individual (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 Tuesday included a single resident each from Barnwell, Berkeley, Lexington and Orangeburg counties.
How are schools affected?
Nearly 1,080 COVID-19 cases in the past week are associated with schools.
State health officials, who report school-related cases twice weekly, documented 835 cases among students and 244 cases among staff between Feb. 2 and Feb. 9.
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 10,942 school-related COVID-19 cases have been reported since Sept. 4, DHEC said.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates have dropped 12% in the past month, with 67.5 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 1,901 virus deaths, or about a quarter 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 9.8% and the 30-day positivity rate is 11.6%.
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.
How SC compares to other states
South Carolina was again one of the states hardest hit by COVID-19 over the past week, according to a weekly report published by the federal government.
South Carolina ranked near the top of the list in all coronavirus infection-related categories last week, according to the White House COVID-19 team’s state profile report, which provides a weekly snapshot of COVID-19 cases, deaths, test positivity and other factors at the county level for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
From Jan. 30 to Feb. 5, the state ranked first in new COVID-19 cases per capita; third in coronavirus test positivity; 10th in COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100 beds; and sixth in new COVID-19 deaths per capita, according to the report.
All but four counties in the state are considered COVID-19 red zones, based on their high rates of new cases and test positivity, the report found. Georgetown, Richland and Lee counties are in the orange zone (medium) and Newberry County is in the yellow zone (low), according to the report.
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 1:19 PM.