SC reports fewer than 500 COVID-19 cases for first time in 5 months Tuesday

South Carolina health officials Tuesday reported fewer than 500 confirmed COVID-19 cases for the first time in five months.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 496 new coronavirus cases and 13 deaths from the virus. The last time the daily number of cases dropped below 500 was Oct. 2, according to DHEC.

While the daily cases numbers represent a five-month low, they come on a day when about half the typical number of people were tested.

Still, only 4.6% of the 14,821 COVID-19 tests reported Tuesday returned positive results, according to DHEC, making it the second straight day test positivity was below the 5% rate the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider “low” transmission.

COVID-19 hospitalizations, which have declined steadily since mid-January, dropped again Tuesday to 706, their lowest point in more than four months.

Since March of last year, the state has reported 445,523 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7,606 deaths from the virus.

South Carolina counts an additional 73,300 cases, including 96 Tuesday, as probable positives. They also count another 970 deaths, including one Tuesday, 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 518,823 probable and confirmed COVID-19 cases and 8,576 probable and confirmed deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Vaccines distributed

As of Tuesday, South Carolina had received 704,120 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 588,400 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The agency reported Tuesday that 441,285 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 225,233 first doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered so far. Another 223,992 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 85,215 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 64 with certain pre-existing conditions and frontline workers with increased occupational exposure, like teachers and law enforcement will be eligible to be inoculated.

In addition to the 976,000 first and second vaccine doses that have been administered, South Carolinians have scheduled another 525,000 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 over the 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.