SC reports 1,516 COVID-19 cases, 39 deaths Wednesday
State health officials Wednesday announced 1,516 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 39 virus deaths.
After averaging nearly 4,000 daily cases in January, South Carolina has now reported fewer than 2,000 cases in seven of February’s first 10 days.
More than 12% of the nearly 19,000 tests reported Wednesday came back positive, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
DHEC 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 Wednesday to 1,439, nearly 42% lower than their peak of 2,466 on Jan. 13.
Since March of last year, the state has reported 417,807 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6,923 deaths from the virus.
South Carolina counts an additional 55,333 cases, including 251 Wednesday, as probable positives, and another 819 deaths, including 10 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 532,350 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 437,900 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Wednesday that 315,398 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 121,169 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 86,171 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 25,476 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, and all people age 65 and older are currently eligible to receive vaccinations.
In addition to the nearly 548,214 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, South Carolinians have scheduled another 421,000 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.