South Carolina’s daily COVID numbers show downward trend, lowest total since December

South Carolina reported about 4,000 new coronavirus cases and 28 deaths on Tuesday, the lowest single-day total since December.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control released data after reporting more than 25,000 cases and 217 deaths from over the weekend.

Of the 4,137 new cases reported, at least 815 were listed as “probable” rather than confirmed. That brings the state’s total COVID-19 cases to more than 1,389,000 since March 2020. The state is now averaging around 8,300 new coronavirus cases each day.

The state conducted a total of 18,512 tests for the new data, with 23.9% coming back positive. Results are from tests collected two days earlier.

The recent explosion in new coronavirus infections across the state is coinciding with extremely long wait times at some COVID-19 testing sites, a shortage of at-home tests available at some pharmacies, and delays for many people awaiting their test results. State health and federal Centers for Disease Control officials say the new omicron variant is to blame for the spike, making up 95% of all new cases around the country.

As case counts continue to grow, so does the state’s death toll.

The 28 new deaths bring the statewide death toll to 15,508. More than 800 people have died of COVID-19 in South Carolina over the past month.

DHEC officials have recommended that all eligible children ages 12 and up receive a Pfizer booster vaccine five months after their second dose to become “maximally vaccinated.” All eligible adults who are fully vaccinated — two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson — are encouraged to get booster vaccines as well to help fight off the virus, as the vast majority of the new cases are people who are unvaccinated.

About 36.3% of the new cases reported over the weekend were people age 30 and under. Children 10 and younger made up 12.1% of the new cases, while 12% 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.

There have been 666 deaths — 0.0259% of all cases — as of Jan. 28 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 1.7252% of all fully vaccinated people have been infected, while nearly 0.1037% 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 country’s lowest rates of full vaccination status — people with two vaccine shots — among its eligible population, at an estimated 53%.

This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 12:05 PM.

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.