SCDHEC update Tuesday May 5, 2020

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On Tuesday, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) reported 93 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 since the first case was reported March 6, to 6,841 and those who have died to 296.

Twelve of the current deaths occurred in elderly individuals in Beaufort (1), Berkeley (3), Charleston (1), Richland (5), Williamsburg (1), and York (1) counties, and one death occurred in a middle-aged individual in Florence County (1).

The number of new cases by county are:
Allendale (3), Anderson (1), Barnwell (2), Beaufort (1), Charleston (2), Chesterfield (1), Clarendon (5), Darlington (5), Fairfield (3), Florence (6), Greenville (3), Greenwood (2), Horry (6), Kershaw (2), Lancaster (1), Laurens (1), Lee (1), Lexington (11), Marion (1), Marlboro (1), Oconee (2), Orangeburg (3), Pickens (2), Richland (12), Saluda (2), Spartanburg (3), Sumter (7), Williamsburg (2), York (2)

Expanding Testing to Rural Communities

On Tuesday, 464 residents were tested for COVID-19 at a free mobile clinic in Darlington County, through a partnership between DHEC and Care South Carolina. The screening and specimen collection is part of DHEC’s ongoing efforts to increase testing in underserved and rural communities across the state.

Percent Positive Test Trends Among Reported COVID-19 Cases
As South Carolina increases testing, there will likely be more laboratory-confirmed cases. DHEC today released new graphs showing trends in ​the percent of cases of COVID-19 ​relative to the number of tests performed during the last 28 and 14 days, respectively. The calculation is a result of the number of positive tests reported in a day (for yesterday, 93) divided by the total number of tests performed on that same day by both DHEC’s laboratory and private laboratories (for yesterday, 1,001), then multiplied by 100 to get the percent positive (9.3% yesterday).

When the percent positive is high, it means the targeted testing of symptomatic individuals is occurring. If large volumes of tests are being performed and the percent positive is low, it indicates widespread testing is occurring throughout the state.

Hospital Bed Capacity
As of this morning, 3,241 hospital beds are available and 6,415 are in use, which is a 64.44% statewide hospital bed utilization rate. Of the 6,415 beds currently used, 447 are occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

Tuesday’s higher percentage of statewide hospital bed utilization is due to the inclusion of data reporting from 11 non-acute care facilities who are treating COVID-19 patients. Previously, only 67 acute hospitals reported this information.

Testing in South Carolina
As of May 5, DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory has conducted 17,651 tests for COVID-19. Of these tests, 2,350 were positive and 15,301 were negative. A total of 68,766 total tests by both DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory and private labs have been conducted in the state. DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory is operating extended hours and is testing specimens seven days a week. The Public Health Laboratory’s current timeframe for providing results to health care providers is 24-48 hours.