COLUMBIA, S.C. — The number of new coronavirus cases in South Carolina fell to its lowest point in a week in the latest data, but the percent positive rose to one of its highest totals in months.
The state's helath agency, DHEC, released the latest numbers Thursday afternoon, which reflect data collected through 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. It shows there were 2,023 new cases, down by 400 from the day before and over 1,100 from the all-time high set on December 9.
However, the over 2,000 cases continues a trend of case numbers above that point unseen throughout the entire pandemic, even during the previous peak in the mid-summer.
There were also 39 additional deaths reported spread out over 9 days.
The percent positive rate, which measures how many of the test came back positive, was at 24.2 percent, a number that suggest there's wide community spread. Health experts say that number should be less than 10 percent, ideally.
And hospitalizations appear to be up dramatically too. DHEC's hospital dashboard shows over 1,524 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 releated illness, with 333 of those in ICU. At the start of the month, the hospitalizatiosn were just under 1,000, with between 200 and 250 in ICU.
The trendline below shows the number of daily coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic in March.
Here is the rest of the day's report.
Today's cases and deaths (scdhec.gov/COVID19)
- New confirmed/probable total cases: 2,023/136 Summary click here
- New confirmed/probable total deaths: 39/4 Summary click here
Cumulative totals (scdhec.gov/COVID19)
- Confirmed and probable cases: 243,583/19,191
- Confirmed and probable deaths: 4,484/359
- Tests performed for South Carolinians: 3,207,401
Testing opportunities (scdhec.gov/findatest)
- Testing opportunities available statewide: 317
Percent positive (scdhec.gov/COVID19dashboard)
- 8,357 new individual test results reported statewide (not including antibody tests)
- 24.2% percent positive
Facility reports
- Hospital data (daily): scdhec.gov/COVID19hospitals
- Extended care facility data (Tuesdays and Fridays): scdhec.gov/nursinghomedata
- Assisted living visitation status (Tuesdays): scdhec.gov/nursinghomedata
- Private, public and charter schools (Tuesdays and Fridays): scdhec.gov/covid19schools
The information above as well as extensive reporting on county-level information, demographics and more is available at scdhec.gov/COVID19. The website is updated between 1 p.m.-3 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. weekends. Visit scdhec.gov/COVID19vaccine for the latest vaccine information.
Additional information and resources
