Coronavirus updates for March 1: Here’s what to know in South Carolina this week
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and vaccines in South Carolina. Check back each week for updates.
About 3,100 COVID cases added in SC last week
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on Tuesday, Feb. 28, reported 3,101 COVID-19 cases for the week ending Feb. 25 and 34 coronavirus-related deaths for the week ending Feb. 18.
The counts include probable and confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths.
An estimated 1.8 million coronavirus cases have been reported in the Palmetto State, and over 19,500 people have died as a result of the virus since March 2020, according to state health officials. Data shows COVID-19 cases and deaths fell about 25% compared with this time last week.
As of Feb. 26, 232 people were hospitalized with the coronavirus in South Carolina (with 61 hospitals reporting), including 30 patients being treated in intensive care units, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Going forward, SC DHEC said it will use “the CDC data for South Carolina to show our state’s Inpatient Bed Usage and Intensive Care Unit Bed Usage statistics” starting Feb. 2.
Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 made up more than 70% of all COVID-19 strains identified in South Carolina for the week ending Feb. 4, data shows. The DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory conducts sequencing on randomly chosen samples as part of nationwide efforts to find out about new strains of the virus, the agency’s website reads.
The state’s latest vaccination numbers show 54% of eligible South Carolina residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and just over 62% have received at least one dose.
Study links COVID-19 to autoimmune disease risk. What to know
A person may be at increased risk of developing an autoimmune disease after a COVID-19 infection, a new study suggests.
The report, published as a preprint on the medRxiv server in January, examines the likelihood of autoimmune disease risks linked to the virus, McClatchy News reported. Autoimmune diseases are ailments in which the body’s immune system attacks normal, healthy cells.
The Germany-based study analyzed 40 autoimmune outcomes across 30 different diseases and found that those without an autoimmune disease are 43% more likely to develop one in the months following a COVID infection.
The risk was lower, but still increased for people already living with an autoimmune disease such as Crohn’s Disease or multiple sclerosis, researchers wrote. For this group, the chance of developing another autoimmune disease after recovering from COVID was 23% higher than those who don’t contract the virus.
For the report, researchers looked at the health records of 614,407 who tested positive for COVID-19 between the start of the pandemic through Dec. 31, 2020, McClatchy News reported. That data was then compared with more than 1.5 people who didn’t catch the virus.
To learn more about the study, read the full story here.
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