FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 12, 2020

 

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Today, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced 584 new confirmed cases and 26 new probable cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, 7 additional confirmed deaths and no new probable deaths.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 152,242, probable cases to 5,813, confirmed deaths to 3,355, and 204 probable deaths.

Confirmed and probable cases: please click here.
Confirmed and probable deaths: please click here.

Beginning today, two projection charts previously included on the Testing Data & Projections webpage — Observed and Projected SC COVID-19 Cases by Week and South Carolina’s Projected Case Rates per 100,000 Compared, Selected Severely Impacted States — and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation's projections are replaced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) forecasting for COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. These CDC forecasts and projections include:

• cases (state- and county-level forecasts)
• deaths (state-level forecasts)
• hospitalizations (state-level forecasts)

With the expansion of forecasting options by various institutions, the CDC has created a one-stop webpage to allow interested parties to compare several options. Using a single source of forecasting — the CDC — instead of comparing the two DHEC-developed projection charts and the IHME-developed projections provides a more comprehensive overview and more accurate comparisons. 

The CDC's forecasts are developed independently and shared publicly to help health officials and the public understand how projections compare with each other and how much uncertainty there is about what may happen in the future.

Who Should Get Tested? 
If you are out and about in the community, around others, or not able to socially distance or wear a mask, we recommend that you get tested at least once a month. 
 
Routine testing allows public health workers to diagnose those who are asymptomatic and interrupt the ongoing spread of the virus. Learn more about who should get tested here.

More than 400 Testing Opportunities Available Statewide
Testing for COVID-19 is essential because it helps identify people who are infected with the virus, whether or not they have symptoms.

DHEC is working with community partners to set up mobile testing clinics and make testing available in communities across the state. Currently, there are 107 mobile testing events scheduled through November 30 and there are 297 permanent COVID-19 testing facilities across the state. Find a testing clinic or event near you at scdhec.gov/covid19testing.

Testing in South Carolina
As of yesterday, a total of 1,640,138 tests have been conducted in the state. See a detailed breakdown of tests in South Carolina on the Data and Projections webpage. DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory is operating extended hours and is testing specimens seven days a week, and the Public Health Laboratory’s current timeframe for providing results to health care providers is 24-48 hours.

Percent Positive
The total number of individual test results reported to DHEC yesterday statewide was 6,424 (not including antibody tests) and the percent positive was 9.1%.

Hospital Bed Occupancy
Hospitals report their information each day to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by way of TeleTracking, and that same reporting is also provided to DHEC. Click here to view data from today's TeleTracking report.

COVID-19 Information
For the latest information related to COVID-19 visit scdhec.gov/COVID-19. Visit scdmh.net for stress, anxiety and mental health resources from the S.C. Department of Mental Health.

*As new information is provided to DHEC, some changes in previously reported data may occur. DHEC’s COVID-19 online data will adjust to reflect any new information in order to have the data and information be as current and accurate as possible at any given time.

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