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Over 1,000 again: Another SC record for COVID-19 cases Saturday, 5 new deaths
South Carolina broke another record of single-day COVID-19 cases on Saturday, with the state’s health officials urging once again that South Carolinians should wear masks and avoid large gatherings so the state can really work to reduce the virus’ spread.
The latest new cases — 1,157 — comes on the heels of Friday’s report when the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control announced South Carolina had logged 1,081 coronavirus cases in a single day, its highest before Saturday.
The state’s new COVID-19 total is now 23,756.
Of those cases, DHEC said five people died as a result of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 644.
WHICH COUNTIES WERE AFFECTED?
Charleston (178), Greenville (124) and Horry (121) each saw more than 100 new cases. Richland and Lexington counties had 99 and 74 new positive cases, respectively.
There were two new deaths in Richland County and one each in Florence, Lee and Oconee.
WHAT’S NEW?
The percent of positive tests continues to increase as more test sites open up.
Since a spike in COVID-19 cases became apparent, the percent of positive cases after testing has been creeping upward. While tests coming back positive hovered around 10% to 12% the week of June 8, this week’s positive percent ranged from about 9% to a new high of 16.2% of the 7,125 people tested in Saturday’s report.
DHEC and partners have 63 mobile testing sites set up across the state, including a site at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium in Columbia, which drew long lines of people who waited in their cars to get tested on Friday and Saturday. The testing site was supported by radio host Charlamagne Tha God and late night host Stephen Colbert, both South Carolina natives.
ARE ALL CASES ACCOUNTED FOR?
No, most likely not. That’s because state health officials suspect that many COVID-19 infections go undiagnosed or untested.
As of Saturday, health officials believed that almost 170,000 people likely had the virus in South Carolina since March.
In one effort to improve the state’s understanding of how the coronavirus disease is spreading, DHEC officials have started tracking and releasing the number of probable cases and probable deaths, state health officials announced Wednesday. A probable case is someone who has not received lab test results, but has coronavirus symptoms or a positive antibody test, according to DHEC’s definition. A probable death would be someone whose death certificate lists COVID-19 as a cause of death or a contributing factor, but has not received a lab test.
On Saturday, officials found five probable cases and no probable deaths.
HOW ARE HOSPITALS BEING IMPACTED?
As COVID-19 spreads, the number of the state’s 10,500 or so hospital beds that are filled by people with the virus increases.
After breaking the record for the most hospitalized coronavirus patients Friday, state health officials announced Saturday that of the 7,461 occupied beds, 673 were being used by COVID-19 patients or those who likely have it, setting a new record again. Of those, at least 83 were on ventilators, according to health officials.
Hospitals across the state were at 70.27% capacity, which is slightly down from Friday.
Locally, hospitals are seeing an even larger shortage in bed space. In Richland County, 74.5% of beds are in use, and in Lexington County that number is 76.1%, which is also down.
In April and May, the daily number of hospitalized patients averaged at about 411, and did not surpass 500. In 11 of the last 12 days, the number of COVID-19 patients, confirmed or suspected, who were hospitalized exceeded 500.
DHEC officials have warned that an uptick in coronavirus cases may led to an increase in hospitalizations weeks later.
HOW IS COVID-19 TRENDING IN SC?
South Carolina has seen a wave of new coronavirus cases lately, showing that the virus’ activity in the state is increasing. Last week, DHEC officials saw daily case counts between 434 and 802, an increase of hundreds of cases from the daily case counts in March, April and early May.
From mid-April to mid-May, health officials saw, on average, about 166 cases per day. From June 7 to June 14, South Carolina saw an average of 619 new cases per day.
To show that the virus is quickly spreading throughout the state, DHEC officials have pointed to the percentage of tests that are positive. Over the last 28 days, that number has gone up.
Over 10 of the last 11 days, officials have seen more than 10% of tests showing positive results.
At its lowest point, the percent of positive tests fell between 2% to 4% on average.
WHY ARE CASE NUMBERS UP?
Teens and young adults are increasing catching the virus, DHEC officials said on Friday.
People under the age of 30 have seen the largest spike in their coronavirus infection rate, with an about 400% increase in cases since April 4. According to DHEC, 18.4% of all cases were patients between the ages of 21-30 as of Friday.
People in their teens account for about 7% of all cases.
“The increases that we’re seeing serve as a warning that young adults and youth are not immune to COVID-19,” a state health official said. “They also tell us that younger South Carolinians are not taking social distancing seriously.”
Traxler also warned that not all young adults will see only mild symptoms.
Starting April 20, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has gradually reopened businesses, including restaurants, retailers, beaches and close contact businesses such as gyms and salons. The Columbia Republican pushed to open some attractions as well by Memorial Day.
The governor has also said that he does not plan to reimpose or add new restrictions on businesses or require residents to wear masks, adding that it’s South Carolinians’ individual responsibility to practice social distancing.
HOW DHEC’S TESTING PLAN IMPACTS CASE NUMBERS
DHEC officials have said their increased testing strategy could also be driving up the number of cases identified each day.
The state health agency set a goal of testing about 2% of the state’s population in June, a goal they met in May.
Since March, labs have completed 321,689 tests.
But while cases have increased dramatically, the number of daily tests has stayed relatively steady since the week of May 10, completing about 35,000 tests a week.
Reporter Emily Bohatch contributed to this story.
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