South Carolina inches near 700,000 COVID-19 cases, adds 26 to death toll

Nearly one out of every five people tested coronavirus on a single day this week were positive, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced Wednesday.

The agency added 3,376 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. At least 889 of those cases are considered “probable” rather than “confirmed.”

The agency also reported 26 new deaths, bringing South Carolina’s total coronavirus death toll to 10,140. At least 45 deaths have been from “breakthrough” cases, meaning the person was fully vaccinated. The majority of deaths — 66% — are people ages 71 and up.

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 16,878 COVID-19 tests conducted Monday, 19% came back positive, according to Wednesday’s report of the data. Percent positive refers to the number of positive COVID-19 tests in relation to all COVID-19 tests conducted.

When the pandemic was first starting out in South Carolina during March and April, only 1.6% of children ages 10 and under tested positive, while just 5.5% of those between the age of 11 and 20 contracted COVID-19.

At the height of the pandemic, only 5.8% of positive cases were kids 10 and under. On Wednesday, the age group make up 12% of all positive cases.

More than 673,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported in South Carolina since the start of the pandemic. The median age for those you contract the virus is 39, while those ages 21-30 make up the state’s largest affected population at 17.4%.

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 46% vaccination rate, one of the lowest in the country.

Note: This story has been updated to report the correct total number of COVID-19 cases in South Carolina.

This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 12:31 PM with the headline "South Carolina inches near 700,000 COVID-19 cases, adds 26 to death toll."

Andrew Caplan

The State

803-771-8390

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.