| Greenville News
Deaths and hospitalizations due to the coronavirus pandemic in South Carolina peaked earlier this month, according to drastically revised projections published on Saturday by state health officials.
Information on the state Department of Health and Environmental Control website indicates that COVID-19 deaths in South Carolina peaked on April 9. The agency’s website predicts that a total of 217 people will die of COVID-19 in South Carolina by August 4. fatalities stabilizing in the next month.
Map of coronavirus SC: An analysis of COVID-19 cases by county and postal code
The DHEC website also states that the peak resource use in South Carolina hospitals related to the coronavirus occurred on April 15.
Projections posted on the DHEC website on Thursday, however, indicated that the peak resource use would occur on April 30, followed by a peak of deaths on May 2. It is estimated that 680 people in South Carolina would die from COVID-19 in August 4.
According to the DHEC website, the agency is relying on projections prepared by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle. The institute used some new sources of information, including population-level mobility data, to update its projections for U.S. states and other nations on Friday.
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An email from the SC State Emergency Response Team to Greenville News on Sunday said that while the projected peaks may have changed, new cases will continue to arise.
“It is important to remember that even when the peak is reached, people will continue to be infected, positive cases will continue to be reported and, unfortunately, deaths will continue to occur,” said the e-mail.
The email acknowledged that relaxing preventive measures too early can “lead to a recovery” in positive cases.
“That’s why we continue to look for opportunities to increase testing across the state and monitor data across the state to see when we are on the peak slope.”
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As of Saturday, 4,246 people in South Carolina had tested positive for COVID-19 and 119 died, according to DHEC. The 486 cases of COVID-19 in Greenville County are the second highest total in the state behind Richland County, which has 626. A total of 211 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Spartanburg County. There are 133 cases in Anderson County, 38 cases in Pickens County and 16 in Oconee County.
The revised projections come as McMaster prepares to reopen retail stores and beaches
On the same day that the new projections were posted on the DHEC website, two upstate lawmakers said they were notified that McMaster plans to announce on Monday that retail stores and beaches will be reopened after being closed for weeks to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
State Representative Stewart Jones, a Greenwood Republican, and State Representative Josiah Magnuson, a Spartanburg County Republican, praised McMaster for his decision to start easing some of the restrictions he imposed during the pandemic.
Republican state deputy Bill Taylor of Aiken also had a positive reaction in an email to his constituents on Saturday night.
“This is the economic spark we need!” Taylor wrote.
In a post on his Twitter page on Saturday, McMaster said he told governors in five southeastern states that “South Carolina was ready” for people to get back to work.
But neither McMaster nor his office responded to the News’s requests for comment seeking comment.
The coronavirus update made on Friday by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation includes estimates of when states may consider loosening social distance rules if containment measures are in place. These measures include widely available tests, contact tracking and case-based isolation, as well as restrictions on mass meetings.
According to the institute, the deadline to ease social distance in South Carolina is the week of June 1.
Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM