South Carolina surpasses 700,000 COVID-19 cases, adds 33 people to death toll

South Carolina surpassed 700,000 coronavirus cases on Wednesday after reporting more more than 3,700 new cases, according to data released by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The agency reported 2,659 confirmed cases and 1,056 “probable” cases, along with 33 additional deaths, bringing the statewide death toll to 10,357. The total number of cases is now more than 702,000.

Of the 18,736 COVID-19 tests conducted,18.6% 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.

At least 50.4% of the cases reported were people aged 30 and under.

Children who are 10 and younger made up 15.2% of the new cases, while 19.8% 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.

At least 77 deaths have been from “breakthrough” cases, meaning the person was fully vaccinated. The majority of deaths — 65% — are people ages 71 and up. And about 65% of the deaths had comorbid conditions.

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 46.8% vaccination rate, one of the lowest in the country.

This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 12:52 PM with the headline "South Carolina surpasses 700,000 COVID-19 cases, adds 33 people 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.