COLUMBIA, S.C — South Carolina reported 2,413 new confirmed COVID-19 cases Monday, bringing the total number of cases reported since Friday to more than 10,000.
The state has now reported at least 2,000 cases each day for the past four days and at least 1,000 cases each day for the past 20 days, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Before Saturday, South Carolina had never reported consecutive days with more than 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Its only longer string of consecutive days with 1,000 confirmed cases came over the summer, when cases topped 1,000 for 33 straight days from July 8 to Aug. 9.
The 10,136 confirmed cases reported since Friday are far more than South Carolina has reported over any consecutive four-day span this year, according to DHEC. The state's previous four-day record was 7,951 confirmed cases from July 14-17.
In addition to the continued surge in new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported Monday, DHEC also announced 12 deaths from the virus.
Since March, nearly 219,000 people in South Carolina have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 4,249 have died, according to DHEC.
The state counts another 15,832 cases, including 25 Monday, as probable positives, and another 330 deaths, including one Monday, as probable COVID-19 deaths.
DHEC defines a probable case as someone who has not received a lab test result, but has virus symptoms or a positive antibody test. Probable deaths are ones where the death certificate lists COVID-19 as the cause or a contributing factor to death, but the person was not tested for the virus.
The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive has also surged in the past week. Of the 12,452 tests reported Monday, 19.4% were positive.
The seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate, which provides an idea of how widespread infection is in a testing area, is at its highest point since mid-July.
Elevated percent positive rates indicate there are likely more people infected with COVID-19 in the community who have not yet been tested and that testing may need to be ramped up.
The World Health Organization earlier this year advised governments not to reopen until percent positive rates were at 5% or lower for at least 14 days.
Roughly 14% of all COVID-19 tests administered in South Carolina since March have come back positive, according to DHEC. The state's 7-day percent positive rate briefly dipped below 5% in mid-May, but has otherwise remained well above the WHO's guidelines for reopening.
DHEC urges anyone who is symptomatic or who has been exposed to someone with COVID-19 to get tested themselves, and recommends routine monthly testing for anyone who is out and about in the community, even if they are asymptomatic.
Of the 12 deaths reported Friday, eight were elderly individuals (65 and older) and four were middle-aged (35-64), according to DHEC.
South Carolinians of all ages have died after contracting COVID-19, but the disease has taken the greatest toll on elderly residents.
The average age of all South Carolinians who have died from coronavirus complications is 75, and the vast majority of those who died — 87% — were over 60, data show.
Daily case rates have risen more than 71% in the past 30 days and are currently the highest they've ever been, with 33 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days and an average of 2,361 new cases per day over the past week.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which, as of Sunday, had topped 1,000 statewide for four straight days, are also up about 20% from a month ago, according to DHEC. Hospitalization data was not immediately available Monday.
The number of people being tested across the state has shot up over the past month, with an average of 189 tests per 100,000 individuals performed daily in the last 30 days, a 33% increase from the month prior, data shows.
An average of 15.6% of those tests have come back positive in the past 30 days.
Overall, nearly 2.9 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
