New COVID cases in SC among highest in months. State records 13 more deaths

South Carolina recorded 1,391 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday and 644 probable cases, according to data released by the State Department of Health and Environmental Control. This is down slightly from Sunday, but the numbers are still among the highest reported since February.

Thirteen new confirmed deaths also were reported. The data collected Monday was reported on Wednesday.

Out of 10,071 COVID tests conducted, 19.1% came back positive, down about half a percentage point from Sunday. This percentage still indicates a very high risk of transmission, according to CDC indicators. Percent positive refers to the number of positive COVID-19 tests in relation to all COVID-19 tests conducted.

The highly contagious delta variant is likely responsible for the majority of COVID-19 cases in South Carolina, according to state health officials. The exact number of delta cases is unknown because only a fraction of confirmed cases undergo genome sequencing, the process used to determine the variant.

There have been nearly than 514,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Carolina since the start of the pandemic and more than 628,000 cases in all. DHEC provides updated COVID-19 data Monday through Friday at 1 p.m.

This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 2:18 PM.