For the fourth day in a row, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) officials reported less than 150 new coronavirus cases — showing a possible flattening of the curve.
South Carolina now has a total of 3,553 COVID-19 cases and 97 deaths after an additional 115 cases and 10 deaths were reported Tuesday, officials said. Just one week ago, the state had 2,417 cases and 48 deaths.
Here’s a breakdown of how many cases were reported each day in the past week in South Carolina, which shows a modest leveling off of cases:
- April 13: 127
- April 12: 113
- April 11: 144
- April 10: 274
- April 9: 241
- April 8: 139
- April 7: 187
- April 6 (When McMaster issued “Home or Work” order): 183
Among those who died from coronavirus in South Carolina Tuesday, “eight were elderly individuals with underlying health conditions from Aiken (1), Berkeley (2), Clarendon (2), Lancaster (1), Lexington (2) counties; one was an elderly individual, with the presence of underlying conditions still under investigation, from Richland County (1); and one was a middle-aged individual with underlying health conditions from Horry County (1),” SCDHEC officials said in a news release.
Richland County — the epicenter of the pandemic for more than a week now — recorded an additional 11 new cases on Tuesday. Richland is the second most populous county in South Carolina and is home to the state capital of Columbia.
While a total of 372 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Richland County, SCDHEC estimates that there are around 3,286 cases total. SCDHEC’s projections take into account the amount of people who likely have or had the virus but were never tested.
Breaking it down by areas within Richland County, the 29223 zip code (covering northeast Columbia, Dentsville, and Woodfield, South Carolina) has the highest number of cases with 89 reported and 547 estimated.
“Regardless of the number of reported cases within an area, all South Carolinians should take seriously, the recommended precautions for protecting against this disease,” SCDHEC officials have warned.
Greenville County — the most populous in the state — has the second highest cases with 373 (2,291 estimated).
Kershaw County — a much smaller county that was ground zero for the virus in South Carolina — has 187 cases, the highest amount of cases per capita in the state.
With 95 total cases, the 29020 area code in Camden/ Kershaw County has more than 98 reported cases — more than any other zip code in the state. As of Tuesday, Kershaw County was the 115th county in the U.S. for coronavirus cases per capita.
A total of 33,872 people have been tested for coronavirus in South Carolin, with 30,319 of those tests being negative.
The current mortality rate for coronavirus in South Carolina is 2.7 percent — and that’s with reported cases. If you consider SCDHEC’s 21,826 estimated cases, the mortality rate is about .004 percent.
According to the latest projections, an estimated 680 people will die from coronavirus in South Carolina by August — and that’s “assuming full social distancing through May 2020,” according to experts at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
The virus is expected to peak in late April. SCDHEC estimates South Carolina will have seen a total of 8,677 cases of coronavirus by May 2.
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