One day of South Carolina cases soar back above 1,000

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today announced 1,291 new confirmed cases and 12 new probable cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, and 10 additional confirmed deaths. There are currently 832 hospital beds occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

This brings the total number of people confirmed cases to 27,842, probable cases to 55, confirmed deaths to 683, and zero probable deaths.

Eight of the deaths occurred in elderly individuals from Beaufort (1), Charleston (1), Dillon (1), Greenville (1), Lexington (1), Orangeburg (1), and Spartanburg (2) counties, and two of the deaths occurred in middle-aged individuals from Greenville (1) and Newberry (1) counties.

The number of new confirmed cases by county are listed below.

Abbeville (5), Aiken (21), Anderson (22), Bamberg (8), Barnwell (4), Beaufort (38), Berkeley (38), Calhoun (1), Charleston (175), Cherokee (8), Chester (2), Chesterfield (7), Clarendon (5), Colleton (5), Darlington (7), Dillon (6), Dorchester (32), Edgefield (2), Fairfield (3), Florence (19), Georgetown (18), Greenville (241), Greenwood (10), Horry (183), Jasper (4), Kershaw (12), Lancaster (3), Laurens (8), Lee (2), Lexington (54), Marion (6), Marlboro (7), Newberry (32), Oconee (19), Orangeburg (29), Pickens (66), Richland (86), Saluda (5), Spartanburg (38), Sumter (20), Union (4), Williamsburg (8), York (28)

The number of new probable cases are listed below.

Beaufort (3), Greenville (1), Lancaster (4), Lexington (2), Pickens (1), Richland (1)

Testing in South Carolina
As of yesterday, a total of 362,219 tests have been conducted in the state. See a detailed breakdown of tests in South Carolina on the Data and Projections webpage. DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory is operating extended hours and is testing specimens seven days a week, and the Public Health Laboratory’s current timeframe for providing results to health care providers is 24-48 hours.

Percent Positive Test Trends among Reported COVID-19 Cases
The total number of individuals tested yesterday statewide was 8,191 (not including antibody tests) and the percent positive was 15.8%.

More than 60 Mobile Testing Clinics Scheduled Statewide
As part ongoing efforts to increase testing in underserved and rural communities across the state, DHEC is working with community partners to set up mobile testing clinics that bring testing to these communities. Currently, there are 61 mobile testing events scheduled through July 21 with new testing events added regularly. Find a mobile testing clinic event near you at scdhec.gov/covid19mobileclinics.

Residents can also get tested at one of 164 permanent COVID-19 testing facilities across the state. Visit scdhec.gov/covid19testing for more information.

Hospital Bed Occupancy
As of this morning, 2,769 inpatient hospital beds are available and 7,721 are in use, which is a 73.6% statewide hospital bed utilization rate. Of the 7,721 inpatient beds currently used, 832 are occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.