FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 5, 2020

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Today, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced 524 new confirmed cases and 89 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 172,216, probable cases to 9,423, confirmed deaths to 3,736, and 256 probable deaths.

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

Be Positive You’re Negative 
DHEC urges South Carolinians to be positive you're negative by routinely getting tested if you're regularly out in the community. It's especially important to get tested before and after holiday traveling or events. Visit scdhec.gov/findatest for a testing location near you. DHEC-sponsored testing is free, doesn't require insurance, and results are available within 72 hours. DHEC's testing options have expanded to include shallow nasal testing, an oral swab, or a saliva test at different locations. 

Testing in South Carolina
As of yesterday, a total of 2,077,260 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 2,922 (not including antibody tests) and the percent positive was 17.9%.

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.