South Carolina reports 2,200 new coronavirus cases, seven deaths on Tuesday

South Carolina added 2,277 new COVID-19 cases to the state’s total coronavirus case count on Tuesday, according to data released by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The agency also reported seven new deaths, bringing South Carolina’s total coronavirus death toll to 10,115. At least 45 deaths have been from “breakthrough” cases, meaning the person was fully vaccinated.

The highly contagious delta variant is likely responsible for the majority of new COVID-19 cases in South Carolina, according to state health officials. The exact number of delta cases is unknown because only a fraction of confirmed cases undergo genome sequencing, the process used to determine the variant.

Of the 21,096 COVID-19 tests conducted Sunday, 13% came back positive, according to Tuesday’s report of the data.

Percent positive refers to the number of positive COVID-19 tests in relation to all COVID-19 tests conducted.

More than 669,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported in South Carolina since the start of the pandemic, and nearly 25,000 hospitalizations.

Health officials recommend wearing a face mask and getting the coronavirus vaccine to help limit the spread of the virus. South Carolina currently has a 45.5% vaccination rate, one of the lowest in the country.

This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 1:38 PM with the headline "South Carolina reports 2,200 new coronavirus cases, seven deaths on Tuesday."

Andrew Caplan

The State

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Andrew Caplan is a watchdog journalist who hails from Florida. He comes to The State Media Company after winning several statewide awards for investigations on elected officials and government entities. He holds a master’s degree from the University of South Florida.