Coronavirus numbers continue to climb in SC with nearly 7,000 new cases, 41 deaths

South Carolina on Wednesday reported nearly 7,000 new coronavirus cases and 41 new deaths around the state.

The numbers come a day after the state reported a record-high number of cases in a week, along with back-to-back all-time highs for daily cases on Friday and Saturday.

In the days prior to Thanksgiving, the state averaged fewer than 600 new cases per day, which included a low of 259 cases on Nov. 24, and no days over 1,000 cases. Since then, there has been a surge to more than 8,300 new cases per day — the highest at any point during the pandemic.

The CDC announced Wednesday that the omicron variant makes up an estimated 95% of all COVID-19 cases around the country, while the delta variant makes up the remaining 5%.

Of the 6,992 new cases reported over the Wednesday, at least 2,774 were listed as “probable” rather than confirmed. That brings the state’s total COVID-19 case count to more than 1,018,000 since March 2020. The state health department says cases reported come from testing completed two days earlier.

The state conducted about 15,587 tests for Wednesday’s data, with nearly 32.7% coming back positive.

About 42% of the new cases reported were people age 30 and under. Children 10 and younger made up 10% of the new cases, while 12.7% of the cases were diagnosed in people between the ages of 11-20.

At the earlier height of the pandemic between December 2019 and February 2020, only 5.8% of positive cases were kids 10 and under.

But while case counts are up, the death rate is lower than at some earlier points in the pandemic. The 41 new deaths reported Wednesday bring the statewide death toll to 14,715. About 400 people have died of COVID-19 in South Carolina over the past month, the lowest monthly total since July.

The vast majority of the new cases are people who are unvaccinated.

There have been 532 deaths — 0.0214% of all cases — as of Dec. 17 from “breakthrough” cases, meaning an infected person is fully vaccinated with at least two doses. The majority of deaths — 59% — are people age 71 and up. About 61% of those who died had comorbid conditions. An estimated 0.9607% of all fully vaccinated people have been infected, while nearly 0.0642% 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 has one of the the country’s lowest rates of full vaccination status — people with two vaccine shots — among its eligible population, at an estimated 52%.

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.