SC health department reports 1,585 new COVID-19 cases, 51 deaths Friday
South Carolina health officials Friday reported 1,585 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 51 deaths from the virus, both five-day highs.
Nearly 9% of the 27,073 tests reported Friday 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 again Friday to 1,122, their lowest point in more than two months and about 55% lower than their peak of 2,466 just over a month ago.
Since March of last year, the state has reported 432,780 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7,325 deaths from the virus.
South Carolina counts an additional 65,157 cases, including 393 Friday, as probable positives. They also count another 888 deaths, including 13 Friday, 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 497,937 probable and confirmed COVID-19 cases and 8,213 probable and confirmed deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Vaccines distributed
As of Friday, South Carolina had received 532,550 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 438,400 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Friday that 371,322 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 159,216 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 134,474 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 45,407 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 710,000 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, South Carolinians have scheduled another 474,000 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 again Friday to 1,122, 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 just 12% of all hospital inpatients.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 265 are in intensive care units and 151 are on ventilators, according to DHEC.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for months, was right at 81% Friday, while ICU bed occupancy was 77%, data show.
In Richland County, 78% of hospital beds were occupied Friday, 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 640, 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 Friday, Greenville again led all counties with 197 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 93 cases, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are slightly below the Upstate’s numbers, with a seven-day average of 520 new cases, according to DHEC. Richland led all Midlands counties Friday with 139 cases, followed by Lexington with 107 and York with 99.
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 137 confirmed COVID-19 cases were most in the Pee Dee Friday, while Charleston County’s 101 cases were most in the Lowcountry.
Of the 51 confirmed deaths reported Friday, 38 were elderly (65 and older) and 12 were middle-aged individuals (35-64) and one was a young adult from Spartanburg 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 Friday included nine Spartanburg County residents; six Greenville County residents; four residents each from Anderson and Horry counties; three Orangeburg residents; two residents each from Berkeley, Charleston, Darlington, Lancaster, Oconee and Richland counties; and a single resident each from Aiken, Barnwell, Chester, Clarendon, Colleton, Dorchester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Hampton, Lexington, Pickens, Union and Williamsburg counties.
How are schools affected?
More than 1,600 COVID-19 cases in the past 10 days are associated with schools.
State health officials, who report school-related cases twice weekly, documented 1,280 cases among students and 334 cases among staff between Feb. 9 and Feb. 18.
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 12,556 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 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 1,913 virus deaths, or about 23% 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 Friday is about 34% less than the average reported daily over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs Friday was about 32% lower than the 30-day average, and the number of coronavirus patients on ventilators was 37% lower than the average over the past month.
The number of people being tested across the state has risen about 4% in the past month. An average of 600 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 10.2%.
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 to Feb. 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 19, 2021 at 1:25 PM.