FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 4, 2020

COLUMBIA, S.C. —  The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today announced 135 new cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, and 8 additional deaths.

This brings the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in South Carolina to 6,757 and those who have died to 283.

Six of those deaths occurred in elderly individuals in Clarendon (1), Greenville (2), Horry (1), and Richland (2) counties, and two of the deaths occurred in middle-aged individuals from Clarendon (1) and Marlboro (1) counties.

The number of new cases by county are listed below.
Allendale (2), Bamberg (1), Berkeley (3), Charleston (8), Chesterfield (1), Cherokee (1), Clarendon (3), Darlington (4), Dillon (2), Florence (12), Georgetown (1), Greenville (30), Horry (4), Kershaw (1), Laurens (1), Lexington (12), Marion (3), Marlboro (2), McCormick (1), Oconee (1), Orangeburg (5), Pickens (1), Richland (13), Saluda (1), Spartanburg (7), Sumter (13), Williamsburg (1), York (1) 

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.

Expanding Testing to Rural Communities
DHEC is partnering with Care South Carolina to host a COVID-19 mobile testing clinic in Darlington County from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. tomorrow, May 5, at St. David's Academy, 116 St. David’s Street, in Society Hill. The screening and specimen collection is free for residents and is part of DHEC’s ongoing efforts to increase testing in underserved and rural communities across the state. For more information about the event, click here. 

Percent Positive Test Trends Among Reported COVID-19 Cases
As South Carolina increases testing, there will be more laboratory-confirmed cases. DHEC today released new graphs showing trends in reported confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the last 28- and 14-days, respectively. The percent of total tests assists the agency in comparing the number of tests conducted and increases in overall testing. The calculation is a result of the number of positive tests reported in a day (for yesterday, 135) divided by the total number of tests performed on that same day by both DHEC’s laboratory and private laboratories (for yesterday, 3,090), then multiplied by 100 to get the percent positive (4.4% yesterday). 

When the percent positive is high, it means more tests are being used to confirm severely symptomatic cases rather than to test a wide range of the population. If large volumes of tests are being performed and the percent positive is low, it indicates widespread testing is occurring. 

DHEC Releases Updated Summary and Projections
DHEC today provided an updated summary regarding cases confirmed to date as well as projections through May 23. On March 6 the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in South Carolina. The projections currently indicate that South Carolina may see almost 1,000 new cases per week by mid-May. The total number of cases is estimated to grow to 9,652 confirmed cases on May 23.

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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