The way a key statistic used to measure how much COVID-19 is spreading in the community is changing, the SC Department of Health and Environment announced, and while the number is much lower, the agency does not want the think that it means that the virus has become slow.
In the future, DHEC will calculate its positive percentage rate for each day, dividing the number of positive tests found by the total number of tests performed. Until this week, the health agency was finding the percentage by dividing people with a positive test by the total number of people tested. The old method tried to account for those who were tested more than once.
“An important issue to keep in mind is that some people are tested more than once,” said Michael Sweat, leader of the MUSC Epidemiological Intelligence Project. “So counting people or taking tests affects the results.”
The change in reports brings South Carolina in line with national standards, DHEC said, but it does not mean that the virus is spreading more slowly.
“With the change, the public will see a huge drop in the number that represents a positive percentage,” DHEC said in its February 2 announcement. “This does not mean that the level of dissemination in the community has decreased. The positive percentage will appear to be lower just because it is calculated differently.”
In fact, the spread of the coronavirus has put South Carolina at the top of the national lists. A report generated weekly by the White House Coronavirus Task Force still ranks the state in third place as a percentage of positivity.
For the second week, the White House report placed South Carolina in second place in the country for new cases of COVID-19, behind only Arizona, reflecting data from the last week of January. The state is fourth in new deaths and seventh in hospitalizations.
State figures
New cases reported: 1,762.
Total cases in SC: 402,361 confirmed, 48,433 likely.
New reported deaths: 64 confirmed, 15 likely.
Total deaths in SC: 6,663 confirmed, 731 likely.
Percentage of ICU beds occupied: 78 percent.
How does SC rank in vaccines administered by 100,000 people? 32 as of February 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most affected areas
The three counties with the highest level of cases for their populations are Pickens and Greenville in Upstate and Dillon County in Pee Dee, according to DHEC.
What about the tri-county?
Charleston County announced 142 new cases on Tuesday, while Berkeley counted 47 and Dorchester saw 38.
Hospitalizations
Of the 1,760 patients with COVID-19 admitted to Tuesday, 391 were in the ICU and 238 were using ventilators.
Long-stay facilities
There were 17,345 confirmed cases of coronavirus in nursing homes and assisted living facilities: 10,762 residents and 6,583 employees, according to DHEC data. This is an increase of 10% of cases in two weeks.
So far, 1,762 residents have died from the virus, a 16 percent mortality rate. Twenty-nine workers also died. Together, they account for 27 percent of deaths in the state, show the data released on Wednesday.
Of the 685 installations monitored by DHEC, the virus was found in 482. There are active outbreaks in 239 of them, an increase of 11% in two weeks.
Some type of visitation – internal, external or both – is allowed in 338 installations; 336 do not allow; and 11 did not report.
What do the experts say?
During the weekly Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting, DHEC’s chief epidemiologist, Dr. Linda Bell, said she knows people are “frankly very tired” of COVID-19, wearing masks and distancing themselves socially.
“Now is not the time to relax current prevention measures,” she said. “And it’s not just about wearing the mask, but using the masks consistently and correctly.”
Masks must cover the nose and mouth to be effective, said Bell.
She added that the CDC did not evaluate the practice of double masking.
Reach Mary Katherine Wildeman at 843-607-4312. Follow her on Twitter @mkwildeman.