SC reports 1,079 COVID-19 cases, 36 deaths Friday
South Carolina health officials Friday reported 1,079 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 36 deaths from the virus.
Just under 6% of the 26,486 COVID-19 tests reported Friday returned positive results, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. That’s in the low end of the range the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider “moderate” transmission.
COVID-19 hospitalizations, which have declined significantly since mid-January, dropped Friday to 664, their lowest point in five months.
Since March of last year, the state has reported 448,275 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7,697 deaths from the virus.
South Carolina counts an additional 74,983 cases, including 277 Friday, as probable positives. They also count another 1,002 deaths, including five Friday, as probable COVID-19 deaths.
DHEC defines a probable case as someone who has had a positive antigen test or has virus symptoms and is at high risk for infection. Probable deaths are ones where the death certificate lists COVID-19 as the cause of or a contributing factor to death, but the person was not tested for the virus.
The state has reported a cumulative total of 523,258 probable and confirmed COVID-19 cases and 8,699 probable and confirmed deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Vaccines distributed
As of Friday, South Carolina had received 748,580 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 588,400 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency reported Friday that 450,820 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 239,391 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 231,879 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 94,923 second doses of the Moderna vaccine also have been administered.
Administrations of the Moderna vaccine currently lag behind Pfizer administrations because Moderna shots had originally been used exclusively to vaccinate long-term care facility residents and staff as part of a federal pharmacy partnership. In recent weeks, the Moderna vaccine, which does not have the same ultra-cold storage requirements as the Pfizer vaccine, has been shipped to pharmacies, federally qualified health centers and other providers, and its uptake is expected to increase.
Health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff, and all people age 65 and older are currently eligible to receive vaccinations. Starting Monday, anyone 55 and older, people 16 to 54 with certain preexisting conditions and frontline workers with increased occupational exposure, like teachers and law enforcement, will be eligible for vaccinations.
In addition to the more than 1 million first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, South Carolinians have scheduled another 541,000 vaccination appointments, DHEC said.
The state also received its first shipment of roughly 41,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses this week, although DHEC has not yet reported that any have been administered. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, also known as the Janssen vaccine, received emergency use authorization last weekend. Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that require a two-dose regimen, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only a single dose.
Anyone eligible to receive a vaccine who would like to get one can use DHEC’s locator tool to find a provider with availability near you at www.scdhec.gov/vaxlocator. For those who lack internet access, DHEC has launched a phone line — 866-365-8110 — where operators are available every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to help people searching for information about vaccine providers.
State health officials advise South Carolinians to continue taking measures to mitigate spread of COVID-19 as the vaccination rollout progresses in the months ahead.
DHEC urges anyone who is symptomatic or who has been exposed to someone with COVID-19 to get tested themselves and recommends routine monthly testing for anyone who is out and about in the community, even if they are asymptomatic.
To find a testing location near you, visit DHEC’s website at scdhec.gov/covid19/covid-19-testing-locations.
