COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – The South Carolina state health department announced 144 new cases of the novel coronavirus Saturday.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control also announced eight additional deaths tied to the virus.
This brings the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in South Carolina to 3,207, and those who have died to 80.
The additional deaths were in five elderly individuals with underlying health conditions who were residents of Beaufort, Clarendon, Florence, Kershaw and York counties, DHEC said.
There were two deaths that occurred in middle-aged individuals with underlying health conditions who were residents of Greenville and Sumter counties, according to health officials.
There was one death of an elderly individual that is still under investigation for any underlying conditions who was a resident of Dorchester county, the announcement continued.
Here is a breakdown of new cases by county:
- Abbeville (2)
- Aiken (2)
- Anderson (2)
- Bamberg (1)
- Beaufort (5)
- Charleston (3)
- Chester (1)
- Clarendon (5)
- Darlington (4)
- Dorchester (2)
- Fairfield (3)
- Florence (2)
- Georgetown (4)
- Greenville (17)
- Greenwood (1)
- Horry (8)
- Kershaw (1)
- Lancaster (1)
- Laurens (2)
- Lexington (18)
- Marion (1)
- Marlboro (2)
- Oconee (1)
- Pickens (1)
- Richland (27)
- Spartanburg (20)
- Sumter (4)
- Union (2)
- York (2)
Dillon County lost two cases from its total counts as the individuals were determined during case investigations to be residents of another state, according to SCDHEC.
DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory had conducted 9,993 tests for COVID-19 as of Friday. Of those tests, 1,182 positive and 8,811 were negative. 28,183 total tests have been completed statewide by both DHEC’s lab and private labs.
DHEC says its lab is working extended hours and is testing specimens seven days a week. It added in its release Saturday that its current timeframe for providing results is 24-48 hours.
As of Saturday morning, 5,657 hospital beds are available and 6,012 are utilized, which is a 51.5 percent statewide hospital bed utilization rate.
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