Daniel Prince
Hospital numbers showing slight declines, case numbers fall more dramatically this week
The state may have reached the peak of the omicron surge in cases, though a couple more weeks are likely needed to be sure. Over the past week, DHEC has encountered data processing issues that delayed reports and kept them from being able to report on the total number of tests and the percent positive rate. That is just now getting back to normal. Over the weekend, more than 25,800 cases were reported, which is down from the nearly 49,000 the previous weekend, and around 55,650 from the weekend before that. Union County had 46 confirmed cases and 16 probable cases reported this past weekend, down from 250 confirmed and 35 probable from the weekend before.
In addition, hospitalization numbers are showing their first small decreases since the surge began. 2422 are hospitalized statewide, with 437 in ICU and 218 on ventilators. While the ICU numbers are slightly higher than this time last week, the total number hospitalized, those on ventilators, and the number of new admissions all saw decreases of anywhere from 0.5% to 2.3%.
Many are still dying from the virus, as 148 confirmed deaths and 69 probable deaths were reported over the weekend. That number included 6 confirmed deaths in Union County—1 from Sunday’s report and 5 from Saturday’s.
WBCU tracks and reports the daily DHEC data each day around 5:20 during the Union Pennzoil Kwik Lube Top 5 at 5 program.