South Carolina adds 3,200 new COVID-19 cases, 43 deaths

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control added 43 more people to its COVID-19 death toll on Thursday.

The statewide COVID-related death toll is now 10,182 people.

The agency also added 3,205 new coronavirus cases throughout the state. At least 1,089 of those cases are considered “probable” rather than “confirmed.”

As of Aug. 13, 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.

Of the 18,525 COVID-19 tests conducted, 14.6% came back positive, according to Thursday’s report of the data. Percent positive refers to the number of positive COVID-19 tests in relation to all COVID-19 tests conducted.

Nearly 62% of the cases reported on Thursday were people aged 40 and under.

Children who are 10 and younger made up 13.5% of the new cases, while 17% of the cases were attributed to people between the ages of 11 and 20.

When the pandemic was first starting out in South Carolina during March and April 2020, only 1.6% of children ages 10 and under were testing positive, while just 5.5% of those between the age of 11 and 20 contracted COVID-19.

At the height of the pandemic between the months of December and February, only 5.8% of positive cases were kids 10 and under.

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.

More than 673,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported in South Carolina since the start of the pandemic. The median age for those who contract the virus is 39, while those ages 21-30 make up the state’s largest affected population at 17.3%.

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.

This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 12:13 PM with the headline "South Carolina adds 3,200 new COVID-19 cases, 43 deaths."

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.