COVID updates: DHEC reports 10,892 cases, 85 deaths in South Carolina

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 10,892 cases of COVID-19 and 85 deaths. This is 30 more deaths than the previous high reported this month, which was 55.

Of the reported cases, 8,523 are confirmed and 2,369 are probable. Out of the 85 deaths, 70 are confirmed and 15 are probable.

DHEC has not reported positivity rates this week due to a backlog in their system caused by an overwhelming amount of testing data. The issue has mostly been resolved, but DHEC is still working on adding negative tests to their count in order to calculate a positivity rate.

The South Carolina Children's Hospital Collective reported that 41 children are currently hospitalized with a COVID-19 diagnosis. Only four of those children are vaccinated, though 21 of the hospitalized children are under 5 and therefore ineligible for the vaccine. This leaves 16 children hospitalized with a COVID-19 diagnosis who are unvaccinated despite being eligible to receive the vaccine.

COVID updates: DHEC reports new COVID-19 numbers after delay due to test influx

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina COVID cases and deaths for Jan. 28