South Carolina’s public health agency has confirmed an additional 82 cases of the 2019-2020 coronavirus, according to a news release issued on Wednesday afternoon. According to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) – the agency leading the Palmetto State’s response to the global pandemic – that put the statewide total at 424 confirmed cases.
Eight South Carolinians have died as a result of exposure to the virus – which has now reached 39 of the Palmetto State’s 46 counties. Among the dead? John C. “Jack” West III, son of former South Carolina governor John West, who passed away on Wednesday afternoon after a two-week battle with the virus.
In addition to the latest confirmed coronavirus cases, SCDHEC’s public health laboratory announced that it had conducted 2,303 negative tests.
Also, for the first time the agency issued public projections of estimated future case totals – predicting that the state will have 2,657 confirmed cases by April 2 and 8,053 cases by May 2.
However, “projected data is estimated and may change significantly due to various factors.”
Indeed. Estimates already have changed to accommodate new information. State officials were originally preparing for a total of 1,700 confirmed cases at the beginning of April, according to projections exclusively obtained by this news outlet last week.
Now they believe the actual number will wind up being significantly higher …
One of the factors inhibiting accurate calculations and projections? The sparse availability of testing, which has been an issue in assessing the spread of this virus across the state. As we have frequently pointed out in covering the daily SCDHEC data releases, the numbers the agency is releasing do not constitute the complete extent of coronavirus testing in South Carolina. Private labs are also conducting tests, and SCDHEC does not always include this data in its releases. Furthermore, positive cases obtained from both sources – private labs and government testing centers – obviously do not represent the total number of South Carolinians who have been infected by the virus.
“As the number of cases in the state significantly increases, the method for controlling the disease spread changes from in-depth investigations of every individual case to community strategies,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, a physician consultant to the agency. “Residents should not expect individual notification that they were exposed to a case, rather everyone should practice social distancing, stay home and stay away from other people if they’re sick, and wash their hands frequently with soap and water.”
Here is a look at the break down of cases by county …
- Kershaw County: 63
- Richland County: 59
- Charleston County: 52
- Greenville County: 50
- Beaufort County : 26
- Horry County: 20
- Anderson County: 19
- Lexington County: 18
- York County: 18
- Sumter County: 10
- Orangeburg County: 9
- Spartanburg County: 9
- Darlington County: 8
- Lancaster County: 6
- Pickens County: 6
- Berkeley County: 5
- Clarendon County: 5
- Florence County: 5
- Dorchester County: 4
- Abbeville County: 3
- Chesterfield County: 3
- Fairfield County: 3
- Aiken County: 2
- Georgetown County: 2
- Greenwood County: 2
- Jasper County: 2
- Lee County: 2
- Oconee County: 2
- Calhoun County: 1
- Chester County: 1
- Colleton County: 1
- Dillon County: 1
- Edgefield County: 1
- Marion County: 1
- Marlboro County: 1
- Newberry County: 1
- Saluda County: 1
- Union County: 1
- Williamsburg County: 1
And here is a look at the latest map of the cases …
(Click to view)
(Via: SCDHEC)
Nationwide, there have been at least 59,500 confirmed coronavirus cases with 804 fatalities, per a database maintained by The New York Times. More than half of those cases – nearly 31,000 – come from the state of New York.
Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 416,000 people in 196 countries and territories, killing 18,589 people. That is according to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
South Carolina governor Henry McMaster has been urged by several lawmakers – and one of the state’s largest mainstream media outlets – to impose a “shelter in place” order for all South Carolinians in the hopes of containing the spread of the virus.
To read our take on that debate, click here …
-FITSNews
This news outlet is committed to giving our readers the very latest, most relevant information we have regarding this unfolding global story. To check out more of our coronavirus coverage, click on the link below …
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