For the tenth consecutive day, South Carolina officials reported record-breaking COVID-19 hospitalizations.
On Thursday, 881 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized across South Carolina, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC). This is the highest number reported since the state began tracking the metric in early May.
Thursday’s reported coronavirus hospitalizations are up 23 percent from the previous 7-day average and up 40 percent from the last 14-day average.
Take a look below….
Between the Midlands, Pee Dee, Upstate, and Lowcountry regions, the Pee Dee has the highest hospital bed occupancy rate at 79.9 percent. Kershaw County — the original ground zero for COVID-19 in the Palmetto State — had the highest hospital bed occupancy rate on Wednesday at 93.2. percent, followed by Lexington County at 91.9 percent.
“As of this morning, 2,559 inpatient hospital beds are available and 7,842 are in use, which is a 75.4% statewide hospital bed utilization rate. Of the 7,842 inpatient beds currently used, 881 are occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19,” SCDHEC officials said.
South Carolina was one of the first states to lift COVID-19 lockdowns and open businesses, beginning on May 4.
Now, South Carolina is among a few states leading the nation in new cases per capita.
SCDHEC announced 1,106 new cases and 8 deaths Thursday as daily reported cases have been mostly ticking upward for the last few weeks — increasing at higher rates than most of the country.
In fact, South Carolina reported more positive COVID-19 cases in the last 6 days (6353) than it did in the entire month of May (5888).
Take a look at the daily cases reported since March 6.
For the past 16 days, South Carolina officials have reported more than 500 daily COVID-19 cases. Keep in mind, before May 30, South Carolina hadn’t reported more than 300 new daily cases ever.
In April, South Carolina averaged 170 COVID-19 cases per day. In May, that number jumped to 190 cases per day. So far in June, that number soared to an average of 689 new coronavirus cases per day.
The recent surge is not due to the state’s expanded testing. South Carolina still ranked 39th in the nation this week when it comes to coronavirus testing per capita, according to data from The Covid Tracking Project.
The percentage of positive case per test has also been ticking upward, another alarming sign that COVID-19 isn’t anywhere near contained in South Carolina.
On Thursday, 16.9 percent of tests had positive results.
In total, more than 28,000 have tested positive for COVID-19 in South Carolina and 691 people have died.
The only metric that hasn’t moved upwards has been the daily death count. We will be watching that closely as deaths typically lag behind hospitalizations and new cases.
So far this month, South Carolina has averaged about eight deaths per day, which is the same as May’s daily average, but up from April which averaged 6 deaths per day.
On Thursday, “The confirmed deaths occurred in four elderly individuals from Chesterfield (1), Dillon (1), Lexington (1), and York (1) counties, and four middle-aged individuals from Berkeley (1), Charleston (1), Colleton (1), and Lee (1) counties.”
The recovery rate for those who have tested positive for coronavirus in South Carolina is 81 percent. Roughly 87 percent of cases so far in South Carolina have not required hospitalization.
State officials have recently warned young adults that the 21-30 age group is now the most likely age group to get COVID in SC.
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