FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 11, 2020

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today announced 140 new cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, and 15 additional deaths.

This brings the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in South Carolina to 7,792 and those who have died to 346.

Eleven of those deaths occurred in elderly individuals in Charleston (1), Clarendon (1), Florence (1), Hampton (1), Lancaster (1), Lexington (3), and Richland (3) counties, and four of the deaths occurred in middle-aged individuals in Fairfield (1), Florence (2), and Sumter (1) counties.

The number of new cases by county are listed below.
Aiken (1), Allendale (1), Anderson (1), Beaufort (1), Berkeley (3), Charleston (10), Chester (3), Chesterfield (1), Clarendon (2), Darlington (5), Dillon (7), Dorchester (2), Fairfield (1), Florence (21), Georgetown (1), Greenville (13), Greenwood (1), Horry (5), Kershaw (4), Lancaster (1), Laurens (1), Lee (9), Lexington (6), Marion (1), Marlboro (2), Richland (19), Saluda (3), Spartanburg (3), Sumter (3), Union (1), Williamsburg (5), York (3)

DHEC’s COVID-19 webpage is updated daily with a map of positive cases as well as the most current recommendations for protecting against COVID-19.

DHEC Reaches Goal to Identify 1,000 Contact Tracers
As South Carolina enhances its testing efforts, DHEC set goal with its AccelerateSC partners to identify 1,000 contact tracers by May 31. Today, DHEC met that goal.

Contact tracing is a disease control measure that helps stop the spread of diseases like COVID-19 by identifying close contacts of people who tested positive for an illness. During normal operations, DHEC employs 20 contact tracers but has increased that number to more than 400 as part of the agency’s COVID-19 response. Today, DHEC has retained an additional 1,400 contact tracers through contracts with two private staffing companies, Apple One and C-Trace. Additionally, since DHEC created a contact tracing webpage on May 8, 667 members of the public have expressed interest in receiving training to become one.

DHEC Opens Additional Free COVID-19 Mobile Testing Clinics
DHEC currently has 14 mobile testing clinics scheduled across the state, with more planned in the coming days. The screening and specimen collections are free for residents and are part of DHEC’s ongoing efforts to increase testing in underserved and rural communities across the state. To find a mobile testing clinic near you, visit DHEC’s mobile testing clinic webpage. Locations are regularly added to the webpage as new information is provided.

Testing for COVID-19 in S.C. Nursing Homes
Today, DHEC began the first of three phases of testing in South Carolina nursing homes. As announced May 6, DHEC — with testing support from LabCorp and extensive coordination and cooperation from the South Carolina Healthcare Association and Leading Age South Carolina — will test approximately 40,000 residents and staff members at the state’s 194 nursing homes. An estimated 15,000 residents and staff at 74 facilities are part of this initial round of testing. Results of the testing will be reflected in the impacted facilities list on DHEC’s COVID-19 demographics page. The list is updated twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays.

DHEC Releases Updated Summary and Projections
DHEC today provided an updated summary regarding cases confirmed to date as well as projections through May 30. The projections currently indicate that South Carolina may see a drop from approximately 1,000 new cases per week to 900 new cases per week by the end of May. The total number of cases is estimated to grow to 10,493 confirmed cases during the last week of May.
For the latest information about bed utilization rates, testing, telehealth options and more, please visit our website at scdhec.gov/COVID-19.

*As new information is provided to the department, some changes in cases may occur. Cases are reported based on the person’s county of residence, as it is provided to the department. DHEC’s COVID-19 map will adjust to reflect any reclassified cases.

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