News Releases

News Releases

DHEC Provides Online Reporting of COVID-19 Cases among Public and Private Schools; South Carolina Announces Latest COVID-19 Update (September 4, 2020)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 4, 2020

 

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Today, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is unveiling a new interactive online resource that provides COVID-19 cases associated with students, faculty and staff at all kindergarten-12 grade public and private schools in the state.

As announced earlier this week in a news release, this school reporting dashboard is available at scdhec.gov/COVID19schools. The information within the school reporting dashboard will be updated twice weekly, on Tuesday and Friday afternoons.

It’s important to remember that this reporting does not mean that students, faculty or staff contracted the virus at school; only those students, faculty and staff who physically attend school or a school’s campus on a regular basis will be included in the counts; and some schools may choose to self-announce cases before they are reflected in DHEC’s twice-weekly reports.

DHEC may work to make improvements to this online resource in the coming days as we receive and review feedback on the reporting system.
 

Latest COVID-19 Update (September 4, 2020)

Today, DHEC announced 1,511 new confirmed cases and 34 new probable cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, 37 additional confirmed deaths and 2 new probable deaths.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 121,378 probable cases to 1,947, confirmed deaths to 2,706, and 140 probable deaths.

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

More Than 480 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, so they can isolate themselves and keep those around them from becoming infected, especially at-risk individuals who can develop life-threatening illness if they contract the virus. Identifying those with COVID-19 who have symptoms helps ensure they receive the medical treatment they need.

DHEC is working with community partners to set up mobile testing clinics and make testing available in communities across the state. Currently, there are 244 mobile testing events scheduled through October 17 and there are 241 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 1,046,613 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 8,261 (not including antibody tests) and the percent positive was 18.3%.

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 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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COVID-19 Media Relations Statewide