South Carolina can no longer say that the cases of COVID-19 peaked during the summer.
On Friday, the State Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 2,470 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, the maximum in a single day. That statewide total included 27 from Sumter.
Friday’s update eclipsed the previous single-day hike, which occurred on July 18 with 2,322 cases. The biggest increases in this wave continue to occur in the regions of Upstate and Midlands. Sumter is considered in the DHEC’s Pee Dee region.
Across the state, almost 211,000 South Carolinaians have tested positive for the virus and 4,175 died.
“The hospital systems in our state are increasingly burdened with the care of all those who suffer seriously from this deadly virus. Nationally, case counts, percentage of positivity, hospitalizations, patients on ventilators and deaths are approaching or exceeding levels. previous spring and summer, “public health officials wrote in a press release on Friday.
There are more than 12,000 people with COVID-19 hospitalized.
DHEC also reported 29 deaths on Friday, including two in Sumter and two in Lee County. Sumter was registered as a middle-aged and an elderly person, and Lee’s victims were both elderly.
That brings Sumter County totals to 4,217 confirmed cases and 99 deaths and 837 cases and 39 deaths in Lee County.
Clarendon recorded 1,357 cases and 68 deaths.
“It is clear that our state and nation are at a crucial point in this pandemic,” said the statement. “We have increasing evidence that family spread is contributing to new cases. That is why it is so important for anyone identified as having close contact with COVID-19 to follow quarantine guidelines, even if you do not feel sick. Asymptomatic individuals the virus is spreading. “
Officials said the arrival of a vaccine will help end the pandemic, but warned that the general public will probably not have access to vaccines until next spring.
“A recent study found that wearing a face mask by only 75% of the US population would flatten the projected incidence curve and reduce infections by 37%. We can change our course,” the statement said.
Officials from DHEC, the Association of Hospitals of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina say the most effective ways to stop the virus remain: wearing a mask over your nose and mouth, distancing yourself socially, limiting contact with people outside your home, do routine checkups if you are away from home in the community and adhering to quarantine or isolation guidelines.