SC health authorities report 358 new cases of COVID-19

COLOMBIA, SC (WBTV) – South Carolina health officials reported 358 new cases of COVID-19 across the state on Tuesday.

South Carolina had 468,525 positive cases confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic.

There were no additional coronavirus-related deaths reported Tuesday.

Since March 2020, there have been 8,112 confirmed deaths in the state.

As of Tuesday, a total of 6,902,210 COVID-19 tests have been carried out across the state. The positive percentage for cases is 5.0%.

Health officials reported on January 30 that the first confirmed case of variant B.1.1.7 of COVID-19 was found in the state.

VACCINE RESOURCES IN SOUTH CAROLINA

DHEC changing the positive COVID-19 percent path is calculated

South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control officials announced that they were changing the way the positive percentage is calculated for COVID-19 cases.

Previously, state health officials produced the positive percentage by dividing the number of people who tested positive by the number of people who had tested in general, which included positive and negative results.

This new method is calculated by dividing all positive COVID-19 tests by the total number of positive and negative COVID-19 tests, and multiplying the result by 100 to obtain a percentage.

With this new method taking place, the public will see a big drop in the number that represents the positive percentage. However, DHEC officials emphasize that 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,” said state health officials on Tuesday afternoon.

According to a press release, DHEC will not only use this new method in the future, but will also go back and recalculate the positive percentage of all the time that COVID-19 was tracked in South Carolina.

South Carolina Announces Transition of Coronavirus Case Notification

“As part of DHEC’s continuous improvement efforts to improve the quality of information that DHEC provides, daily COVID-19 data will be provided with a 24-hour delay starting on November 27, 2020. This delay will allow for further analysis data before it is publicly reported. DHEC epidemiologists and data analysts will have more time to review the large amounts of data and information reported to the agency each day and will have additional time for data validation, verification of death reports and improvements in the processing of large data files sent by reporting partners. This will also allow DHEC data and medical experts to have more time to identify and investigate any inconsistencies or abnormalities in the data. This transition in no way affects the agency’s efforts to protect public health and limit the spread of disease. Case investigators will continue to try to contact all positive cases within 24 hours of our notification of your positive result. “

If you are away from home in the community, close to other people, or are not able to distance yourself socially or wear a mask, the authorities recommend that you get tested at least once a month.

Routine tests allow public health professionals to diagnose those who are asymptomatic and stop the continuous spread of the virus. Find out more about who should be tested here.

Nursing homes to report visitation status

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) issued a public health order which requires all DHEC licensed community nursing homes and residential care facilities to submit a weekly report detailing the current visitation status of each facility.

This public health order was issued as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect the health of residents and employees of long-term care facilities, while providing safe and careful visits to family, friends and loved ones, according to South Carolina health officials. Under the public health order, DHEC licensed nursing homes and community residential care facilities must provide, among other information:

whether the facility is allowing visitation, and if not, provide the reason (s) for not allowing visitation
the number of residents who participated in a visit in the past seven days

DHEC must report cases in public / private schools in South Carolina

On September 4, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced that it was unveiling online resources that provide COVID-19 cases associated with students, teachers and staff and all kindergartens to public and private 12th grade schools in South Carolina.

Health officials say it is important to remember that this report does not mean that students, teachers or staff have contracted the virus at school; only students, teachers and staff who physically attend a school or school campus on a regular basis will be included in the counts; and some schools may choose to announce cases before they are reflected in DHEC’s biweekly reports.

DHEC clarifies CDC information on COVID-19 deaths

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has cleared up the misunderstanding surrounding data from the United States Centers for Disease and Prevention Control (CDC) regarding deaths associated with COVID-19.

The provisional death data updated by the CDC show that for 6% of deaths from COVID-19, COVID-19 was the only cause of death mentioned. The remaining 94 percent of deaths occurred among people with other underlying diseases or contributors, but COVID-19 was still a factor in the deaths.

The cause of death, as listed on a death certificate, includes an immediate cause, intermediate causes, basic cause and contributing conditions.

A common example of a cause of death involving COVID-19 would be acute respiratory distress syndrome as the immediate cause of death, which is the final condition that caused death. The intermediate cause of death would have been pneumonia, with COVID-19 as the basic cause of death.

The basic cause of death is the condition that leads, through intermediate causes, to the immediate cause of death.

The contributing factors may have been asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes or any other illness or condition that may have made the condition that was the cause of death worse than it should have been.

Are facial masks necessary in SC?

Governor Henry McMaster announced a mask requirement at several establishments in South Carolina, starting Monday, August 3.

All previously recommended guidelines for restaurants and other establishments that attract groups of people are now mandatory. This includes the use of a face mask or cape.

As part of the statewide “Mask Up” campaign aimed at encouraging young people and young adults to embrace the use of a face mask, DHEC is offering free mask content that anyone can share on social media to encourage their friends and followers to use coverage facial in public.

The DHEC Public Health Laboratory receives samples from health professionals to be tested for COVID-19. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved some private laboratories to also run tests for COVID-19. These laboratories are required to report positive tests for the virus in South Carolina residents to DHEC.

Numerical, graphical and mapping summaries of the tests and the number of cases observed and projected in South Carolina, as well as additional details on the distribution of cases, can be found on the pages showing the cases by county and zip code and demographic data.

Confirmed cases and deaths vs. likely

South Carolina reports confirmed and probable cases and deaths across the state. DHEC defines the difference between these statistics as:

ONE confirmed case is an individual who has had a confirmatory viral test carried out using a throat or nose smear and this sample tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19. A positive viral test, also called a PCR test or molecular test, alone is sufficient to classify a confirmed case.
ONE probable case is an individual who has not had a confirmatory viral test performed, but has epidemiological evidence and clinical evidence of infection. A positive antibody result no longer classifies an individual as a probable case. A positive antibody result will now be classified as a suspect case.
ONE confirmed death is someone whose death is related to COVID-19 and whose test was positive in a confirmatory viral test for COVID-19.
ONE probable death is an individual whose death certificate lists the disease COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 as the cause of death or a significant condition that contributes to death, but has not been subjected to a confirmatory viral test.

This web page provides information on probable cases and deaths and will be updated to reflect the CDC’s most current recommendations for reporting this new information.

South Carolina Hospitalizations

South Carolina is not reporting accurate numbers of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in the state.

Since Wednesday, July 22, DHEC says that hospitals “are actively transitioning to a new federal reporting system to provide bed occupancy and other important information. DHEC is monitoring its efforts to transition to the new system. “

DHEC issued a Public Health Order supporting the transition from NHSN to TeleTracking on July 15.

For SC demographic data, including the latest recovery rates for the state, Click here.

Since the state was almost completely reopened and Governor Henry McMaster declared that the blockades will not return, Duwve emphasized the importance of people taking steps to combat the spread of COVID-19.

The two things that people can do are simple: social distance and wearing a mask.

There is still a significant risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus in a public setting in any community. To reduce the spread, health officials advise everyone to take the following precautions:

Maintain social distance by staying at least 6 feet away from others
Wear a cloth mask that covers your nose and mouth while in public
Avoid touching frequently touched items
Wash your hands regularly
Monitor your symptoms and stay home when you are sick

People should stay home and get tested for coronavirus if they experience any of the following symptoms:

fever
shortness of breathe
headaches
sore throat
smell loss
vomiting, nausea and / or diarrhea

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