COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina's health agency, DHEC, announced Wednesday hundreds of new coronavirus cases but also a change into how they'll be reporting their data each day about the spread and mortality of the disease.
The agency said they will now confirmed positive cases, probable cases, confirmed deaths, and probable deaths from now on.
The latest data shows 577 new confirmed cases and two new probable cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, along with 10 additional confirmed deaths. This brings the total number of people confirmed cases to 20,551, probable cases to 5, confirmed deaths to 617, and zero probable deaths.
Nine of the deaths occurred in elderly individuals from Beaufort (1), Berkeley (1), Colleton (1), Greenville (1), Horry (1), Lancaster (1), Lexington (2), and York (1) counties.
One (1) death occurred in an middle-aged individual from Charleston County.
The number of new confirmed cases by county are listed below.
Aiken (6), Anderson (7), Beaufort (29), Berkeley (5), Calhoun (1), Charleston (35), Chester (2), Chesterfield (2), Cherokee (2), Colleton (2), Clarendon (6), Darlington (6), Dillon (4), Dorchester (8), Fairfield (2), Florence (22), Georgetown (22), Greenville (77), Greenwood (5), Horry (120), Jasper (1), Kershaw (10), Lancaster (11), Laurens (5), Lexington (35), Marion (5), Marlboro (4), Newberry (2), Oconee (3), Orangeburg (6), Pickens (20), Richland (57), Saluda (2), Spartanburg (22), Sumter (5), Williamsburg (7), York (19)
The number of new probable cases are listed below.
Richland (2)
There are currently zero probable deaths in the state, and five cumulative probable cases: June 14, York County (1); June 15, Lexington (1) and Richland (1) counties; June 16, Richland County (2). This new information is available on DHEC's Data and Projections webpage.
*Reporting Changes*
As seen above, DHEC this week started to reporting probable COVID-19 cases and probable related deaths. South Carolina is 23rd state in the country to follow recent CDC recommendations to report this information.
A confirmed case is an individual who had a confirmatory viral test performed by way of a throat or nose swab and that specimen tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19. A positive viral test, also called a PCR test or molecular test, alone is enough to classify a confirmed case.
A probable case is an individual who has not had a confirmatory viral test performed but has:
- Epidemiologic evidence and clinical evidence of infection, or
- A positive antibody blood test and either epidemiologic evidence or clinical evidence. (A positive antibody test alone is currently not a reliable method for diagnosing a COVID-19 infection.)
A confirmed death is someone whose death is related to COVID-19 and who tested positive with a confirmatory viral test for COVID-19.
A probable death is an individual whose death certificate lists COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death but did not undergo confirmatory viral testing.
A new webpage provides information about probable cases and deaths and will be updated to reflect the most current CDC recommendations for reporting this new information.
Testing in South Carolina
As of Tuesday, a total of 304,431 tests have been conducted in the state. See a detailed breakdown of tests in South Carolina on DHEC's Data and Projections webpage. DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory is operating extended hours and is testing specimens seven days a week.
Percent Positive Test Trends among Reported COVID-19 Cases
The total number of individuals tested on Tuesday statewide was 4,409 (not including antibody tests) and the percent positive was 13.1%.
When the percent positive is low, it may indicate that more widespread testing is being performed and the percent positive may more accurately reflect how much disease is present in the community.
More than 75 Mobile Testing Clinics Scheduled Statewide
As part of the agency's efforts to increase testing in underserved and rural communities across the state, DHEC is working with community partners to set up mobile testing clinics that bring testing to these communities.
Currently, there are 78 mobile testing events scheduled through July 18 with new testing events added regularly. Find a mobile testing clinic event near you at scdhec.gov/covid19mobileclinics.
Residents can also get tested at one of 173 permanent COVID-19 testing facilities across the state. Visit scdhec.gov/covid19testing for more information.
Hospital Bed Occupancy
As of Wednesday morning, DHEC says 3,087 inpatient hospital beds are available and 7,411 are in use, which is a 70.59% statewide hospital bed utilization rate. Of the 7,411 inpatient beds currently used, 607 are occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.