SC reports 1,451 COVID-19 cases, 32 deaths Thursday
After two days of sub-1,000 case counts, South Carolina health officials Thursday reported 1,451 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 32 virus deaths.
Exactly 10% of the 21,491 tests reported Thursday 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 dropped to 1,137 Thursday, their lowest point in more than two months and about 54% lower than their peak of 2,466 just over a month ago.
Since March of last year, the state has reported 431,074 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7,277 deaths from the virus.
South Carolina counts an additional 63,970 cases, including 342 Thursday, as probable positives, and another 878 deaths, including eight Thursday, 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.
The state has reported a cumulative total of 495,044 probable and confirmed COVID-19 cases and 8,155 probable and confirmed deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Vaccines distributed
As of Thursday, South Carolina had received 532,550 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 438,200 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Thursday that 365,325 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 151,471 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 127,735 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 42,558 second doses of the Moderna vaccine also have been administered.
Administrations of the Moderna vaccine currently lag behind Pfizer administrations because Moderna shots had originally 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 688,000 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, South Carolinians have scheduled another 468,000 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 has 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?
The number of COVID-19 inpatients statewide dropped Thursday to 1,137, a 10-week low. Coronavirus patients, who at their peak last month occupied more than 27% of the state’s hospitals beds, now account for less than 12.5% of all hospital inpatients.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 265 are in intensive care units, and 152 are on ventilators, according to DHEC.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for months, was right at 80% Thursday, while ICU bed occupancy was 78%, data show.
In Richland County, 73% of hospital beds were occupied Thursday, and in Lexington County, 86% of beds are full, data show.
Which counties were affected?
COVID-19 cases have fallen in all regions over the past month, but remain highest in the Upstate.
The Upstate’s seven-day average of new cases is about 670, the lowest it’s been since late November, 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 three months.
In the Upstate Thursday, Greenville again led all counties with 205 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 172 cases, Pickens County with 169 cases and Anderson County with 97 cases, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are slightly below the Upstate’s numbers, with a seven-day average of 530 new cases, according to DHEC. York led all Midlands counties Thursday with 66 cases, followed by Richland with 61 and Lexington with 59.
The number of positive tests in the state’s Pee Dee and Lowcountry regions are below the Upstate and the Midlands, and have returned to pre-holiday season levels.
Horry County’s 111 confirmed COVID-19 cases were most in the PeeDee Thursday, while Charleston County’s 86 cases were most in the Lowcountry.
Of the 32 confirmed deaths reported Thursday, 21 were elderly (65 and older) and 10 were middle-aged individuals (35-64) and one was a young adult from Greenville County, 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 Thursday included six residents each from Anderson and Greenville counties; two residents each from Aiken, Florence and Spartanburg counties; and a single resident each from Beaufort, Cherokee, Chesterfield, Darlington, Dorchester, Fairfield, Horry, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda and Sumter counties.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates have dropped significantly in recent weeks and are back down to where they were in early December, with 56 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days, according to DHEC.
Coronavirus deaths, which lag behind cases, reached a record weekly high in late January and remain elevated, according to DHEC. The agency has reported 1,923 virus deaths, or about 24% of the state’s cumulative death total, in the last 30 days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have dropped dramatically after reaching record highs last month. The number of coronavirus inpatients reported Thursday is about 35% less than the average reported daily over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs Thursday was about 33% lower than the 30-day average, and the number of coronavirus patients on ventilators was 38% lower than the average over the past month.
The number of people being tested across the state has risen more than 10% in the past month. An average of 615 tests per 100,000 individuals have been performed daily over the last 30 days, 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 8.4% and the 30-day positivity rate is 10.3%.
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.
Nearly 12% 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 above the WHO’s guidelines for reopening.
How SC compares to other states
Despite its recent drop in COVID-19 cases, South Carolina remained one of the states hardest hit by the coronavirus 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 Feb. 6 - 12, the state ranked first in new COVID-19 cases per capita; sixth in coronavirus test positivity; seventh in COVID-19 hospital admissions; and 13th in new COVID-19 deaths per capita, according to the report.
Thirty of the state’s 46 counties are considered COVID-19 red zones, based on their rates of new cases and test positivity, 14 counties are in the orange zone and two counties — Richland and Newberry — are in the yellow zone, the report found.
This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 1:38 PM.