SC adds at least 5,000 new COVID-19 cases, 60 deaths for second consecutive day

South Carolina reported more than 5,000 COVID-19 cases and at least 60 deaths for its second consecutive day on Thursday.

That brings the state’s COVID-19 case count to more than 746,000 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Of the 5,229 new cases reported, 1,657 were listed as “probable” rather than confirmed. The 60 new deaths bring the statewide death toll to 10,743.

On Wednesday, the agency reported 5,152 cases and 86 deaths. It was the highest single-day death total since Feb. 14, when the agency recorded 87 COVID-related deaths.

At least 32,408 COVID-19 tests were conducted around the state for Thursday’s data, with 14.5% coming back positive.

At least 53.3% of the new cases reported were people aged 30 and under.

Children 10 and younger made up 15.9% of the new cases on Thursday, 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 48% vaccination rate, one of the lowest in the country.

This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 11:52 AM with the headline "SC adds at least 5,000 new COVID-19 cases, 60 deaths for second consecutive day."

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.