48 COVID deaths for just 1 week in SC as new cases surge. Mask up in these counties, CDC says

Patrick McCreless
Bigstock

Dozens of COVID-19-related deaths were recently reported in South Carolina in one week, highlighting the impact of the latest surge in cases, health officials say.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported on Tuesday that there were 48 COVID-19-related deaths for the week ending Dec. 31 — a large jump from the three deaths reported a week earlier. The week of Dec. 31 also had 56% more deaths than the prior four weeks combined, the report shows.

In a Tuesday Facebook post, DHEC wrote that the new deaths “reflect the increasing burden of COVID disease in South Carolina and are a reminder that COVID-19 can still have severe impacts on families across our state. In many cases, deaths can follow an increase in cases and it is likely what we’re seeing with this increase in deaths which follows the rise in cases last month.”

The latest DHEC statistics shows that there were 11,030 new COVID-19 cases for the week ending Jan. 7, a 4% jump over the previous week.

COVID masking recommendations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s community levels map as of Tuesday shows 21 South Carolina counties with high levels of COVID-19, up from 17 counties a week earlier. The latest map also shows 23 counties with medium levels of COVID-19 and two counties with low levels.

This is in marked contrast to the fall, when the map showed all 46 counties with low COVID levels.

The CDC recommends communities with high levels of COVID-19 wear masks indoors in public and on public transportation. It also recommends staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, getting tested if you have symptoms and, if you are at high risk for severe illness, to take additional precautions.

For communities at medium levels, the CDC recommends people wear masks if they have symptoms, have had a positive test or were recently exposed to someone with COVID-19.

“We realize that many people are understandably tired of wearing a mask and taking other precautions,” the DHEC wrote. “By taking appropriate precautions now, however, when rates are up, we can get the rates back down so we can go back to not needing precautions.”

Here are the 21 counties with high COVID-19 levels, according to the CDC.

  • Cherokee

  • Chester

  • Chesterfield

  • Colleton

  • Dorchester

  • Fairfield

  • Georgetown

  • Greenville

  • Horry

  • Kershaw

  • Laurens

  • Lee

  • Lexington

  • Marlboro

  • Newberry

  • Pickens

  • Richland

  • Spartanburg

  • Sumter

  • Union

  • Williamsburg

The 23 counties with medium levels of COVID are:

  • Abbeville

  • Allendale

  • Anderson

  • Bamberg

  • Beaufort

  • Berkeley

  • Calhoun

  • Charleston

  • Clarendon

  • Darlington

  • Dillon

  • Edgefield

  • Florence

  • Greenwood

  • Hampton

  • Jasper

  • Lancaster

  • Marion

  • McCormick

  • Oconee

  • Orangeburg

  • Saluda

  • York

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