South Carolina reports more than 4,300 additional COVID-19 cases, 37 deaths

South Carolina reported 4,343 new cases of coronavirus and 37 deaths on Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The state hasn’t seen fewer than 1,000 cases on any day since July 24. That brings the total number of coronavirus cases to more than 735,000 and the death toll to 10,598.

At least 30,203 COVID-19 tests were conducted around the state for the new cases reported on Tuesday, with 15.8% coming back positive.

At least 53% of the new cases reported were people aged 30 and under.

Children 10 and younger make up 16% of the new cases on Tuesday, while 22.7% of the cases were attributed to people between the ages of 11 and 20.

At the height of the pandemic between 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 to determine the variant.

At least 116 deaths— less than 1% — of all COVID-related deaths as of Aug. 27 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 those who died 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 47.6% vaccination rate, one of the lowest in the country.

This story was originally published August 31, 2021 at 11:47 AM with the headline "South Carolina reports more than 4,300 additional COVID-19 cases, 37 deaths."

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.