On the last day of the deadliest month so far in the coronavirus pandemic, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) reported 45 additional deaths on Friday, but the Palmetto state showed some promising signs of improvement.
SCDHEC released updated data on Thursday (July 30, 2020) concerning the status of COVID-19 within the Palmetto State. While the number of COVID-19 cases have shown a bit of a plateau in the last week, South Carolina’s daily percent positive rate is still high.
First, the data …
New Positive Cases: 1,346 (15 probable)
Daily Percent Positive Rate: 19.5 percent
Total Positive Cases: 88,523 (493 probable)
New Deaths:45 (0 probable)
Total Deaths: 1,647 (67 probable)
Case Fatality Rate: 1.86 percent
Hospital Bed Utilization: N/A
Covid-19 Hospitalizations: 1,516
Covid-19 Patients In ICU: 373
Covid-19 Patients On Ventilators: 237
*Recovery Rate: 89 Percent
*Here’s more info on how DHEC determines the recovery rate.
There has been a slight change in the projected death toll since our last report on that subject – with the ever-vacillating Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) just up from July 22, 2020 estimate of 3,186 total deaths by November 1, that number is now 3,232.
Of the 42 newly reported deaths (.pdf) – which spanned from July 19 to July 28 – 11 were listed as “middle-aged,” which DHEC considers between the ages of 35 and 64, and the rest were classified as “elderly,” or over 65.
Here is our updated chart tracking Covid-19 deaths …
(Via: Mandy Matney)
More than half of all COVID-19 deaths in South Carolina were reported in July. So far, SC health officials have reported 915 COVID-19 deaths in July — more than all of the other months combined.
And here is our updated chart tracking tests and cases …
As you can see from the chart above, South Carolina’s testing efforts have decreased in the last few weeks.
Three weeks ago, SC was averaging about 9,000 tests per day. One week ago, it was averaging 8,500 tests per day. This week, S.C. is averaging around 8,000 tests per day. SCDHEC only reported 7,065 tests yesterday, the second lowest amount in July.
For hospitalizations, SCDHEC did not provide this data from July 24-27, 2020 – which the agency blamed on a federally mandated switch from a reporting system administered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to a “TeleTracking” system administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“DHEC is working with the S.C. Hospital Association to create a new process for gathering inpatient bed availability and occupancy from each hospital in the state, as this is the reporting metric that best provides the number of hospital beds available for caring for adult COVID-19 patients,” DHEC officials said Friday.
Here is our latest chart on hospitalizations (another sign showing possible plateauing)…
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued several executive orders Wednesday — to include reopening of all remaining businesses and implementing enforceable laws for restaurants.
In Wednesday’s press conference, McMaster reopened concert halls, stadiums, spectator sport venues, amphitheaters, gymnasiums and movie theaters starting Monday Aug. 3 with certain restrictions that will be enforceable by local and state law enforcement.
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