South Carolina tops 1,500 new coronavirus cases Saturday for new record
South Carolina continues to report a surge of coronavirus cases, with 1,599 new infections identified Saturday, a daily record.
The previous record of 1,290 was set Tuesday. Since the virus first reached South Carolina in March, state health officials have recorded 31,850 total cases.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control also announced 15 new deaths related to the virus, bringing the state’s death toll from COVID-19 to 707.
Charleston County reported the largest increase in cases Saturday, with 280 new ones. Horry County, where there have been reports of outbreaks connected to vacations, reported the second-largest, with a record 214.
In the Midlands, Richland County reported 111 new cases, and Lexington County added 76.
Of the 15 new deaths, 10 occurred in elderly individuals — one each from Bamberg, Cherokee, Dillon, Florence, Greenville, Greenwood, Hampton, Horry and Marion counties and two from Lexington. The other five deaths were in middle-aged individuals, one each from Greenville, Horry, Lancaster, Orangeburg and Sumter counties.
“This is a dang deadly disease,” S.C. Governor Henry McMaster warned residents Friday. “You have to follow the rules and wear your mask.”
HOW ARE HOSPITALS BEING IMPACTED?
The number of COVID-19 patients in South Carolina’s hospital beds pushed to a new record high of 908, out of 7,728 total in use, on Saturday. That figure has increased sharply throughout this week — on Tuesday, coronavirus hospitalizations shot up by nearly 100 in a day.
Statewide, hospitals are at nearly 73.56% capacity as of Saturday, but Midlands hospitals have reported higher percentages.
McMaster said Friday the state is prepared to implement a plan to create new hospital beds should cases continue to surge, and, if necessary, he may require medical facilities to postpone elective procedures again if the state needs more hospital beds.
ARE ALL CASES ACCOUNTED FOR?
Health officials have continually estimated that as many as 86% of all COVID-19 cases in the state have gone undiagnosed or untested. As of Saturday, that would put the total number of people who have likely contracted the virus since March at 227,500.
State health officials have also started to track what they consider to be probable cases or probable deaths.
A probable case is someone who has not received lab test results but has virus symptoms or a positive antibody test.
A probable death is someone whose death certificate lists COVID-19 as a cause of death or a contributing factor but has not gotten a lab test.
As of Saturday, there have been 89 reported probable cases and four probable deaths.
HOW IS COVID-19 TRENDING IN SC?
The Palmetto State has consistently seen record daily coronavirus case counts over the last three weeks, one indicator that the virus’ activity is increasing dramatically.
This week, DHEC reported no less than 892 new cases every day and ranging up to nearly 1,600 Saturday. Last week, the state’s daily case counts fell between 577 and 1,157. The week before, DHEC reported between 434 and 802 cases daily.
State health officials have also said they use the percentage of tests that turn up positive to gauge the coronavirus’ rate of spread.
Over the last 28 days, that average has risen roughly 10 percentage points. For the past week, the percentage has ranged from 12.6% to 19.8% on Saturday — in May, at its lowest point, the percentage of positive tests fell between 2% to 4% on average.
WHY ARE CASE NUMBERS UP?
Health officials say the surge in daily case counts is a result of people not practicing safety precautions, including wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
“Quite frankly, it’s troubling that not enough people are taking this pandemic seriously,” state epidemiologist Linda Bell said Wednesday, adding that a statewide mask requirement could help to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Since April 20, the governor has gradually reopened businesses, including restaurants, retailers, beaches, gyms and salons. And this week, he said he will not reimpose those restrictions.
Instead, the state has started a new program that offers restaurants decals to show they are following precautions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and DHEC.
McMaster has also said he will not issue a statewide order mandating the use of face masks, but a number of local officials have taken that step on their own, including the cities of Columbia, Charleston and Greenville.
HOW IS DHEC’S TESTING PLAN IMPACTING CASE NUMBERS?
An expansion of testing could be driving up the numbers, health officials said, but it’s not the sole reason.
“Doing testing doesn’t create new cases,” Bell said Wednesday. “When we test, we’re finding cases that are already out there.”
COVID-19 testing was relatively steady from May 10 to June 13, when labs across the state completed about 35,000 tests a week, even as case counts rose. Since then, labs have run more than 100,000 tests across two weeks.
All told, the statewide test total is over 350,000 since March.
Health officials plan to complete about 140,000 tests each month in July and August and reach 165,000 tests per month by 2021.
This story was originally published June 27, 2020 at 1:44 PM with the headline "South Carolina tops 1,500 new coronavirus cases Saturday for new record."
