Daily confirmed coronavirus cases in South Carolina surged to a new record high of 2,470 – according to data released on Friday by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC).
That total eclipsed the previous record of 2,322 confirmed cases reported back on July 18, 2020 during the “summer surge” of the virus.
The percentage of tests coming back positive has also increased significantly in recent days – from 10.7 percent on November 22, 2020 to 21.4 percent on Wednesday, the most recent day for which data is available.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,014 South Carolinians were hospitalized with the virus as of December 2, 2020 – a 41 percent increase from just four-and-a-half weeks ago. Intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalizations linked to Covid-19 stood at 248 – down modestly from a peak of 250 last week but up 37.7 percent from early November.
Hospitalizations remain well below their peak of more than 1,700 in early August, however.
As for the most widely watched figure – the Covid-19 death toll – the virus and its attendant complications/ comorbidities claimed another 29 lives since the previous daily update from SCDHEC, pushing the total death toll for the state to 4,175 since records first began to be kept back in March.
Including “probable” Covid-19-related fatalities, the total swells to 4,496 deaths.
Nationally, the virus has claimed the lives of an estimated 280,200 people.
How many of these deaths would have occurred absent the virus? Good question …
We delved into that controversial issue earlier this week and plan to continue keeping our readers updated as to the latest information we are able to obtain regarding the nation’s overall death rate.
Here is a look at the age breakdown of those deaths (including “probable” Covid-19-related fatalities) …
(Click to view)
(Via: SCDHEC)
As you can see from the chart, the virus continues to disproportionately impact older South Carolinians. Which means if you are younger and in relatively good health, Covid-19 is not targeting you.
South Carolina’s coronavirus death toll is projected to hit 7,611 by April 1, 2021, according to the latest projections from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in Seattle, Washington.
The good news? The current recovery rate for the virus stood at 90.5 percent – although that figure is down modestly from late October.
Also, the case fatality rate for the virus remained at 2 percent for the Palmetto State as of December 2 – roughly where it has stood since early August.
Once again, our goal in covering this virus continues to be providing our readers with raw numbers associated with the virus and our best assessment of that data in the hopes of providing some context for risk – especially the risk associated with shutting down our society a second time.
-FITSNews
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