Lexington and Richland counties escaped another day without a covid-19 death.

State health officials reported 5 new cases in our county and 13 in Columbia and Richland County.

Department of Health and Environmental Control officials Thursday announced 199 new SC cases and 9 more deaths.

This brings the total to 9,379 cases and those who have died to 416.

6 of 9 deaths were elderly individuals from Clarendon (1), Darlington (1), Horry (1), Kershaw (1), Lee (1) and Spartanburg (1) counties. 3 were middle-aged individuals from Dillon (1), Florence (1), and Lee (1) counties.

The number of new cases by county are Aiken (1), Allendale (1), Anderson (5), Bamberg (2), Beaufort (2), Berkeley (4), Charleston (7), Chesterfield (3), Clarendon (4), Colleton (2), Darlington (8), Dillon (3), Dorchester (2), Edgefield (1), Fairfield (13), Florence (13), Greenville (27), Greenwood (4), Horry (13), Kershaw (6), Lancaster (8), Lee (3), Lexington (5), Marion (1), Marlboro (8), Newberry (2), Orangeburg (2), Pickens (5), Richland (13), Saluda (5), Spartanburg (6), Sumter (7), Williamsburg (6), York (7)
55 Mobile Testing Clinics Statewide

To increase testing in underserved and rural communities, DHEC is working with community partners to set up mobile testing clinics. 55 mobile testing events are scheduled through June 26. Find a mobile testing clinic near you at  www.scdhec.gov/covid19testing.
Permanent Testing Sites Across the State

145 permanent testing locations are at health care facilities. Find a location near you including address, hours of operation an additional details at www.scdhec.gov/covid19testing.
DHEC Trains National Guard EMTs to Conduct Nasal Specimen Collection

Today, staff from DHEC’s Bureau of EMS conducted training for COVID-19 specimen collection at McEntire Joint National Guard Base. All 25 of the military detachment’s EMTs received training in collecting nasal and oral swabs for  testing. 
Testing in South Carolina

As of May 20, 148,901 tests by both DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory and private labs have been conducted. DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory is operating extended hours and is testing specimens 7 days a week. The Public Health Laboratory’s current timeframe for providing results to health care providers is 24-48 hours.
Hospital Bed Occupancy

As of Thursday morning, 3,142 inpatient hospital beds are available and 7,199 are in use,  a 69.62% use rate.

Of the 7,199 inpatient beds used, 438 are occupied by covid-19 patients.