The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today announced 172 new cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and nine additional deaths.

This brings the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in South Carolina to 8,189 and those who have died to 371.

Five of those deaths occurred in elderly individuals in Fairfield (2), Greenwood (1), Laurens (1), and Lexington (1) counties, and four of the deaths occurred in a middle-aged individual in Clarendon (2), Pickens (1) and Richland (1) counties.

The number of new cases by county are listed below.
Aiken (4), Anderson (10), Beaufort (2), Berkeley (1), Charleston (2), Chesterfield (5), Colleton (9), Darlington (4), Dillon (9), Dorchester (1), Fairfield (12), Florence (19), Greenville (16), Greenwood (1), Hampton (1), Horry (7), Lancaster (3), Laurens (3), Lee (1), Lexington (9), Marlboro (7), Oconee (2), Orangeburg (2), Pickens (1), Richland (14), Saluda (2), Spartanburg (4), Sumter (5), Williamsburg (8), York (8)

DHEC, Kroger Health and Harris Teeter to Offer Free COVID-19 Drive-Thru Testing in Charleston  
DHEC is working with key community partners to provide COVID-19 testing across the state as part of the agency’s expansive statewide testing strategy. DHEC has partnered with Kroger Health and Harris Teeter to host eight free COVID-19 drive-thru testing clinics at the Charleston Convention Center, 5000 Coliseum Drive, North Charleston. These free clinics are by appointment only. Individuals must first visit www.harristeeter.com/covidtesting to then schedule an appointment during one of the clinics, which are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 15, May 16, May 18, May 22, May 23, May 25, May 29 and May 30.

For additional mobile testing clinics around the state, visit DHEC’s mobile testing clinic webpage. We update this page regularly as new testing clinics are confirmed.

DHEC Launches Radio PSA on How to Appropriately Wear a Mask or Face Covering
DHEC launched a new radio public service announcement (PSA) today to help raise awareness about the appropriate way to wear a mask or face covering. A link to the PSA is available here.

To help protect against COVID-19, DHEC encourages everyone to wear a mask covering whenever in public. When wearing a mask, South Carolinians should:

Make sure you can breathe through it

Wear it whenever going out in public

Make sure it covers your nose and mouth

Wash your hands before taking it on or off

Wash after using

You should not:

Use on children under age 2

Touch the front of the mask

Use surgical masks needed by healthcare workers

Homemade masks may reduce the amount of virus one breathes out and may prevent you from touching your nose and mouth. This measure is recommended to be used in situations where social distancing may be difficult to maintain like at a grocery store, pharmacy, etc. It is intended to protect others from people who may be infected with the virus and able to spread it but not showing symptoms yet.

For a link to a video on how to make your own mask, click here.

Hospital Bed Capacity
As of this morning, 3,301 inpatient hospital beds are available and 7,077 are in use, which is a 68.19% statewide hospital bed utilization rate. Of the 7,077 inpatient beds currently used, 443 are occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

Testing in South Carolina
As of May 13, DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory has conducted 23,192 tests for COVID-19. Of these tests, 2,905 were positive and 20,287 were negative. A total of 102,535 total tests by both DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory and private labs have been conducted in the state. DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory is operating extended hours and is testing specimens seven days a week. The Public Health Laboratory’s current timeframe for providing results to health care providers is 24-48 hours.

*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.