Coronavirus updates: Here’s what you need to know this week in South Carolina
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and vaccines in South Carolina. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is providing weekly updates every Tuesday.
More than 1,000 new COVID cases reported this week
At least 1.4 million coronavirus cases have been reported in South Carolina, and at least 17,493 people have died of the virus since March 2020, according to state health officials.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on Tuesday, March 22, reported 1,014 new COVID-19 cases and 116 coronavirus-related deaths between March 13 and March 19. The data includes both probable and confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths.
The omicron variant accounted for 100% of coronavirus strains identified in South Carolina for the week ending March 12, the latest state health data shows. The DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory conducts sequencing on randomly chosen samples as part of nationwide efforts to identify new coronavirus strains, according to the agency’s website.
At least 187 people in the state were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of March 20, including 37 patients being treated in intensive care units and 16 on ventilators.
As of March 22, nearly 9% of COVID-19 tests were reported positive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said 5% or lower means there is a low level of community spread.
Fifty-four percent of South Carolinians eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and nearly 63% have received at least one dose, health officials say.
SC DHEC stops reporting daily COVID case counts. What’s next
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has been at the forefront of the state’s COVID-19 response but has since phased out daily case count reports, The State reported.
Going forward, the agency said it will report COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations once a week — on Tuesdays.
“Tracking daily case numbers is less useful, especially with the rise of non-reportable at-home tests,” Dr. Brannon Traxler, DHEC’s public health director, said in a statement. “It’s much more useful to track severe cases, meaning those that unfortunately result in hospitalizations and deaths. That gives us a clearer picture of how the virus is impacting local communities.”
State health officials also cited declining COVID-19 cases and the availability of at-home tests for the change, as the pandemic shows signs of moving to an endemic phase.
Getting COVID could increase diabetes risk, study suggests
Contracting a case of COVID-19, even a mild infection, could up your risk of a diabetes diagnosis, according to a recent study.
The report, published March 16 in the journal Diabetologia, is the latest in a growing body of research that looks at COVID-19’s long-term effects on the body.
Researchers found that a person’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes increased 28% after a coronavirus infection compared to someone who hadn’t had the virus, McClatchy News reported, citing the study. People 18 and younger were also more likely to receive a diabetes diagnosis one month after a coronavirus infection.
“New-onset hyperglycaemia and insulin resistance have been reported in patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19) without history of diabetes,” study authors from Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany, and health information database company IQVIA, write. Both are common signs of diabetes.
For the study, researchers analyzed the medical records of 8.8 million patients in Germany from March 2020 to January 2021. Included were the records of 35,865 adults who contracted COVID-19 during that time.
Read the full story here.