South Carolina sees most COVID-related deaths in a single day since February

South Carolina on Wednesday recorded one of its deadliest days since the coronavirus pandemic started more than a year and a half ago.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 86 COVID-related deaths, bringing the statewide death toll to 10,684. It was the highest single-day death total reported since Feb. 14, when the agency recorded 87 COVID-related deaths.

The agency also added 5,152 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. That brings the state’s COVID-19 case count to more than 740,000.

At least 29,217 COVID-19 tests were conducted around the state for the new cases reported on Wednesday, with 17.3% coming back positive.

At least 53.6% of the new cases reported were people aged 30 and under.

Children 10 and younger make up 16.2% of the new cases on Wednesday, while 24.1% of the cases were attributed to people between the ages of 11 and 20.

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

The Palmetto State continues to trend in the wrong direction, as cases are soaring. Last week, South Carolina saw its second-highest weekly total for new cases with nearly 35,000. The only higher weekly total was in early January, when the state had more than 40,000 cases.

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 47.8% vaccination rate, one of the lowest in the country.

This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 3:28 PM with the headline "South Carolina sees most COVID-related deaths in a single day since February."

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.