COVID cases, deaths continue steady decline in SC

Coronavirus cases and deaths continued on a slow, but steady decline over the past week, as South Carolina comes down from a late summer surge.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 9,110 new cases and 309 deaths between Oct. 9 to 15, an average of roughly 1,300 cases and 44 deaths per day.

That’s a nearly 30% drop in cases and a 16% drop in deaths compared to the week prior, and marks the fifth straight week of improvement.

The state’s COVID-19 positivity rate, which gauges the level of disease transmission in a testing area, also ticked down to just under 7% from about 8% last week, according to DHEC data.

As of Friday morning, at least 1,088 residents statewide were hospitalized with COVID-19, a 25% week-over-week drop. Of those hospitalized with the virus, 326 were in intensive care units and 204 were on ventilators, according to state health department data.

South Carolina’s vaccination rate continues to lag much of the country, but has gained some ground on other low vaccination states in recent weeks. More than 2.3 million of the state’s vaccine-eligible residents, or almost 54%, are fully inoculated, according to DHEC data.

Since March 2020, South Carolina has reported 883,982 coronavirus cases and 13,232 deaths.