COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina health officials Thursday reported 3,935 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 51 deaths from the virus.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control now has reported at least 3,000 daily confirmed cases on 13 separate days in the past month and at least 2,000 cases in all but two days in the past month.
Since last March, the state has reported 310,246 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,189 coronavirus deaths.
South Carolina counts another 27,866 cases, including 69 Thursday, as probable positives, and another 472 deaths, including 29 Thursday, as probable COVID-19 deaths.
DHEC defines a probable case as someone who has had a positive antigen test or has virus symptoms and is at high risk for infection. Probable deaths are ones where the death certificate lists COVID-19 as the cause of or a contributing factor to death, but the person was not tested for the virus.
The percentage of positive tests hit a record high Thursday, with 34.2% of the 11,500 tests reported coming back positive, according to DHEC. It's the seventh time in the last eight days that the state's positivity rate has exceeded 30%.
The state's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate, which provides an idea of how widespread infection is in a testing area, is the highest it has ever been.
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 last year advised governments not to reopen until percent positive rates were at 5% or lower for at least 14 days.
Roughly 16% of all COVID-19 tests administered in South Carolina since last March have come back positive, according to DHEC. The state's seven-day percent positive rate briefly dipped below 5% in mid-May but has otherwise remained well above the WHO's guidelines for reopening.
As of Thursday, South Carolina had received 146,250 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, according to DHEC.
The agency reported Thursday that 56,830 of Pfizer's first doses and 3,511 of its second doses had been administered so far, for a 41% utilization rate.
Frontline medical workers, residents of long-term care facilities and others who are at increased risk of contracting the virus or are at high risk of experiencing severe complications from it will be prioritized for vaccination while supplies are limited over the next several months.
In the meantime, state health officials have advised South Carolinians to continue taking measures to mitigate spread of COVID-19.
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.
How are hospitals being affected:
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 climbed slightly Thursday to 2,425, the fifth consecutive day they've set a record high.
A record 476 of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are in intensive care units, and 245 are on ventilators, according to DHEC. More than 25% of all South Carolina inpatients are currently being treated for COVID-19.
Total hospital bed occupancy, which has hovered around 80% for weeks, jumped to 85% Thursday, while ICU bed occupancy rose to nearly 82%, data show.
In Richland County, 78% of hospital beds were occupied Thursday, and in Lexington County, 96% of beds are full, data show.
Which counties were affected?
COVID-19 cases in the Upstate are skyrocketing, outpacing all other South Carolina regions.
The Upstate's seven-day average of new cases is more than 1,500, nearly four times what it was in early November, according to DHEC.
Greenville County, the state's most populous county, has reported more than twice as many cases as any other county in South Carolina over the past month.
In the Upstate Thursday, Greenville again led all counties with 662 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 208, Anderson County with 149 and Pickens County with 105, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 cases in the Midlands are below the Upstate's numbers but also have surged since late November, spiking significantly in the past week. Lexington led all Midlands counties Thursday with 391 cases, followed by Richland with 282 and York with 158 confirmed cases.
The number of positive tests in the state's Pee Dee and Lowcountry regions are well below the Upstate and the Midlands but have risen significantly in the past five weeks.
Horry (233), Florence (133) and Sumter (108) reported the most cases in the PeeDee Thursday, while Charleston's 255 cases were most in the Lowcountry, followed by Dorchester (124), Berkeley (121) and Orangeburg (116) counties.
Of the 51 deaths reported Thursday, 41 were elderly (65 and older), eight were middle-aged (35-64) and one was a young adult (18-34) from Lancaster County , according to DHEC.
South Carolinians from age 0 to 106 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.
The deaths reported Thursday included seven residents each from Greenville and Spartanburg counties; four residents each from Anderson and Laurens counties; three residents each from Cherokee, Florence and Oconee counties; two residents each from Charleston, Darlington, Greenwood, Lancaster and Union counties; and a single resident each from Aiken, Chester, Clarendon, Dillon, Dorchester, Horry, Kershaw, Lexington, Pickens and Richland counties.
How is COVID-19 trending in SC?
Daily case rates are easily the highest they've ever been, up nearly 89% in the last month, with 64.5 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are also at record highs, with Thursday numbers nearly 50% higher than they've been on average over the past month, according to DHEC.
The number of people being tested across the state is also rising. An average of 231 tests per 100,000 individuals have been performed daily over the last 30 days, a 22% increase from the month prior, data show.
An average of 25% of those tests have come back positive in the past 30 days, far higher than the state's cumulative 16.2% positivity average.
Overall, nearly 3.9 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
