COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina has passed 11,000 total COVID deaths, as the state has seen a rapid acceleration in the number of people dying from the virus in recent weeks.
The latest numbers from the state's health agency, DHEC, were released Thursday, which showed 55 new deaths. That brings the state's number of deaths since the pandemic began in March of 2020 to 11,050.
The state just passed its last milestone--10,000 deaths--on August 11. That means that the state has seen 1,000 deaths in less than one month, a pace that shows South Carolina is in one of its worst stretches for mortality during this crisis. Since the pandemic began, the state has seen 1,000 or more deaths just five times: July 2020, August 2020, December 2020, January 2021, and February 2021.
The first death in the state was reported back on March 15, 2020. The number of deaths rose in the following months, but spiked in the summer of 2020, with the state seeing over 1,000 deaths in July and August of that year. After a dip in the fall, the number of deaths accelerated in the winter surge, with over 2,100 deaths reported in January alone.
But as vaccines rolled out, the numbers began to drop dramatically. By June, there were just under 100 deaths, and 111 in July, based on an analysis of DHEC data by WLTX. But things changed dramatically in August as the Delta variant of the virus surged and hospitals filled up. Numbers show there have been just over 900 deaths from August 1 to August 31--and that data is still incomplete. The number will likely rise in the coming days.
Experts at SCDHEC, Prisma Health, MUSC, and Lexington Medical Center are united in saying the only way out of the pandemic is to get vaccinated.
Vaccinations are available for ages 12 and up at many locations across the state. Visit DHEC’s information page for more information on the vaccines, and the locator page to schedule a vaccine appointment.