COLUMBIA, S.C. — More than 300,000 South Carolinians have tested positive for the coronavirus since last March, including nearly a third who were diagnosed in the past month as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have surged to record levels.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control on Tuesday reported 2,285 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 12 deaths from the virus, as coronavirus hospitalizations hit another record high. The 2,344 COVID-19 inpatients reported Tuesday are nearly 200 more than the previous record set Monday and 36% higher than the peak of 1,723 over the summer.
DHEC has now reported at least 2,000 daily cases in 30 of the last 32 days, after reaching that mark only three times in the first nine months of the pandemic, and never on consecutive days.
Since last March, the state has reported 302,003 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,068 coronavirus deaths.
South Carolina counts another 26,070 cases, including 41 Tuesday, as probable positives, and another 430 deaths, including three Tuesday, 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 exceeded 30% for the fifth time in the past six days Tuesday, with 30.7% of the 7,442 tests reported coming back positive, according to DHEC.
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 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.
As of Tuesday, South Carolina had received 146,250 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine and 84,500 doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, according to DHEC.
The agency reported Tuesday that 47,496 of Pfizer's first doses and 169 of its second doses had been administered so far for a 33% utilization rate. DHEC has not released information about the administration of Moderna doses, which have been reserved for long-term care facility residents and staff as part of a federal program.
Front-line 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.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 continued to climb Tuesday, reaching 2,344 and eclipsing the state's record of 2,155 set Monday.
A record 447 of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are in intensive care units and a record 241 are on ventilators, according to DHEC. More than 26% of all South Carolina inpatients are currently being treated for COVID-19, the first time coronavirus patients have made up more than a quarter of all those hospitalized in the state.
Total hospital bed occupancy and ICU bed occupancy remain around 80%.
In Richland County, 71% of hospital beds are occupied Tuesday, and in Lexington County, 86% of beds are full, data show.
COVID-19 cases in the Upstate area are skyrocketing, outpacing all other South Carolina regions.
The Upstate's seven-day average of cases is more than 1,400, three 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 Tuesday, Greenville again led all counties with 405 COVID-19 cases, followed by Spartanburg County with 102, Pickens County with 91 and Anderson County with 85, 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 and York led all Midlands counties Tuesday with 132 confirmed cases each, followed by Richland County with 116.
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 (160) and Florence (97) reported the most cases in the PeeDee on Tuesday, while Charleston's 85 cases were the most in the Lowcountry.
Of the 12 deaths reported Tuesday, nine were elderly individuals (65 and older) and three were middle-aged (35-64), 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 Tuesday included two residents each from Charleston and York counties; and a single resident each from Aiken, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Horry and Richland counties.
More than 200 COVID-19 cases in the past week are associated with schools, DHEC reported Tuesday.
State health officials, who report school-related cases twice weekly, documented 137 cases among students and 73 cases among staff since last week.
The numbers include kindergarten through 12th grade students and staff in both public and private schools, and count only individuals who attend school in person or are on campus on a regular basis.
Results from a rapid schools testing initiative that some districts are in the process of implementing are included in the counts.
A total of 7,412 school-related cases have been reported since Sept. 4, DHEC said.
Daily case rates are easily the highest they've ever been, up nearly 86% in the last month, with 61 people per 100,000 testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 30 days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are also at record highs, with Tuesday's numbers 52% 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 230 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 24% of those tests have come back positive in the past 30 days, far higher than the state's cumulative 16% positivity average.
Overall, more than 3.8 million tests have been conducted in South Carolina.
