COVID-19 daily case count drops in SC for fourth consecutive day after recent peak

South Carolina’s daily case count dropped for a fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, but the state hit a grim milestone by surpassing 10,000 deaths, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The agency reported 1,680 new confirmed cases, a fourth consecutive drop after hitting the summer peak of 3,511 confirmed and probable cases. The state also reported 14 confirmed deaths. At least 280 other cases and one additional death were listed as probable, the agency reported Wednesday.

Though cases have been on a slight decline, the state has been seeing the highest number of COVID-19 cases since February.

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.

Of the 17,906 COVID-19 tests conducted, 13.8% came back positive. This percentage 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.

More than 529,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in South Carolina since the start of the pandemic and more than 648,000 cases in all.

Health officials recommend wearing a face mask and getting the coronavirus vaccine to help limit the spread of the virus. SC currently has a 45% vaccination rate, one of the lowest in the country.

This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 12:02 PM.

Andrew Caplan

The State

803-771-8390

Andrew Caplan is a watchdog journalist who hails from Florida. He comes to The State Media Company after winning several statewide awards for investigations on elected officials and government entities. He holds a master’s degree from the University of South Florida.