934 new cases of COVID-19, and 19 additional deaths in South Carolina
By Ray Rivera | July 7, 2020 at 2:16 PM EDT - Updated July 7 at 7:14 PM
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - State health officials have reported 934 new cases of COVID-19 and 19 additional deaths in South Carolina. This is the first time since June 23 there has been fewer than 1,000 cases.
On Tuesday, officials with the Department of Health and Environmental Control reported that there are currently 1,324 hospital beds occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.
Today’s update brings the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in the state to 47,214, and those who have died to 838, according to DHEC. So far, there has been a total of 138 probable cases and 8 probable deaths, the state health agency reported.
Seventeen of the confirmed deaths occurred in elderly individuals from Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson, Charleston, Cherokee, Greenville, Marion, and Richland counties, and two of the deaths occurred in middle-aged individuals from Charleston and Richland counties.
As of yesterday, a total of 488,221 tests have been conducted in the state. The total number of individuals tested yesterday statewide was 4,521 (not including antibody tests) and the percent positive was 20.7%.
The latest recovery data provided by DHEC shows 89% of 21,552 individuals, who the department has onset data on, have recovered from COVID-19 while 11% remain ill.
The following is a breakdown provided by DHEC of total positive cases and total deaths in Lowcountry counties.
LOWCOUNTRY COUNTIES REPORTTOTAL POSITIVE CASESTOTAL DEATHS
Beaufort County
1,615
22
Berkeley County
1,703
24
Charleston County
6,072
41
Colleton County
400
22
Dorchester County
1,155
5
Georgetown County
643
5
Orangeburg County
953
16
Williamsburg County
445
15
The number of new cases reported on Tuesday, July 7 by county are listed below:
Abbeville (1), Aiken (15), Anderson (21), Bamberg (3), Barnwell (2), Beaufort (105), Berkeley (34), Calhoun (2), Charleston (82), Cherokee (15), Chester (3), Chesterfield (4), Clarendon (5), Colleton (16), Darlington (6), Dillon (6), Dorchester (32), Edgefield (1), Fairfield (4), Florence (11), Georgetown (22), Greenville (55), Greenwood (4), Hampton (1), Horry (109), Jasper (20), Kershaw (11), Lancaster (2), Laurens (17), Lee (1), Lexington (53), Marion (2), Marlboro (1), Newberry (25), Oconee (15), Orangeburg (18), Pickens (5), Richland (80), Saluda (2), Spartanburg (51), Sumter (35), Union (4), Williamsburg (3), York (30)
DHEC officials said they have also begun to report probable cases and probable deaths in regard to COVID-19.
DHEC released the following information on specific cases.
A confirmed case is an individual who had a confirmatory viral test performed by way of a throat or nose swab and that specimen tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19. A positive viral test, also called a PCR test or molecular test, alone is enough to classify a confirmed case.
- Aprobable caseis an individual who has not had a confirmatory viral test performed but has:epidemiologic evidence and clinical evidence of infection, or a positive antibody blood test and either epidemiologic evidence or clinical evidence. (A positiveantibody testalone is currently not a reliable method for diagnosing a COVID-19 infection.)
- Aconfirmed deathis someone whose death is related to COVID-19 and who tested positive with a confirmatory viral test for COVID-19.
- Aprobable deathis an individual whose death certificate lists COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death but did not undergo confirmatory viral testing.
State health officials say 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,” DHEC officials said.
Recommended steps that the public can take include:
- Practicing social distancing
- Wearing a mask in public
- Avoiding group gatherings
- Regularly washing your hands
- Staying home if sick
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