Are 447 news cases an eye-opener?

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Friday announced 447 new cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and 13 additional deaths.

This brings the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in South Carolina to 13,453 and those who have died to 538.

Eleven deaths occurred in elderly individuals from Clarendon (1), Greenville (1), Horry (1), Orangeburg (1), Richland (1), and Spartanburg (6) counties, and two deaths occurred in middle-aged individuals from Charleston (1) and Cherokee (1) counties

The number of new cases by county are listed below.
Aiken (1), Anderson (4), Bamberg (3), Barnwell (2), Beaufort (11), Berkeley (3), Calhoun (1), Charleston (28), Chester (3), Chesterfield (15), Clarendon (3), Colleton (6), Darlington (3), Dillon (3), Dorchester (14), Edgefield (1), Fairfield (9), Florence (16), Georgetown (3), Greenville (77), Greenwood (1), Horry (30), Jasper (2), Kershaw (17), Lancaster (7), Laurens (1), Lee (2), Lexington (43), Marlboro (9), Newberry (4), Oconee (1), Orangeburg (15), Pickens (6), Richland (56), Saluda (2), Spartanburg (15), Sumter (11), Williamsburg (6), York (13)

Hospital Bed Occupancy
By Friday morning, 3,055 inpatient hospital beds are available and 7,337 are in use, which is a 70.60% statewide hospital bed utilization rate. Of the 7,337 inpatient beds currently used, 482 are occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

How South Carolinians Can Protect Themselves
Evidence is increasing about the high rates of infection in people who do not have symptoms and don’t know they are infectious. This places everyone at risk of getting the virus or unknowingly transmitting it to someone else. Steps we can take to protect ourselves and others include:

Practicing social distancing
Wearing a mask in public
Avoiding group gatherings
Regularly washing your hands
Staying home if sick