SC reports more than 4,400 new COVID-19 cases, 106 deaths for past three days

South Carolina reported three days’ worth of COVID-19 data on Monday, with 4,409 COVID-19 more cases and 106 additional deaths.

That brings the state’s COVID-19 case count to more than 879,000 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. The death toll is 13,034.

More than 1,800 people have died of COVID-19 in South Carolina over the past month.

The state added 1,737 cases and 58 deaths Saturday; 1,420 cases and 40 deaths on Sunday; and 1,252 cases and eight deaths on Monday. The number of cases reported from over the weekend show a drop in COVID-19 cases compared to weekend data released in weeks prior.

At least 44% of the new cases reported over the past three days were people age 30 and younger.

Children 10 and younger made up 14.2% of the new cases reported for the three days, while 15.7% of the cases were diagnosed in people between the ages of 11 and 20.

At the earlier height of the pandemic between December and February, only 5.8% of positive cases were from children 10 and under.

The highly contagious delta variant is likely responsible for the majority of new 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 to determine the variant.

There have been 328 deaths — 0.014% of all cases — as of Oct. 8 from “breakthrough” cases, meaning the person was fully vaccinated. The majority of deaths — 65% — are people ages 71 and up. About 65% of those who died had comorbid conditions. And 0.6% of all fully vaccinated people have been infected, while just 0.048% of fully vaccinated people have been hospitalized.

Health officials recommend wearing a face mask and getting the coronavirus vaccine to help limit the spread of the virus.

South Carolina’s vaccination rate is 53.4%, among the lowest in the country.

Andrew Caplan

The State

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