DHEC Director: One in Three SC Residents Testing Positive for COVID-19; Vaccinations Declining

New numbers from DHEC released on Monday suggest that one in three South Carolinians are getting positive results from COVID-19 tests. Figures released by the state health agency on Monday show a positivity rate of over thirty percent. Out of three thousand residents who tested positive during that 24 hour time frame, 49 of those were from Oconee County.

DHEC Director Dr. Brannon Traxler said on Wednesday that out of the vaccine-eligible residents in South Carolina age 5 and older, just over 50 percent are vaccinated. She said that while there has been a slow decline in people getting vaccinated, she is hopeful the trend will reverse…

As of Wednesday, Prisma Health reported 525 patients in their system who have been hospitalized with COVID-19. Out of those, 53 are on ventilators. Only 119 – just over 20% – of the total number of patients have been vaccinated against the virus, according to data posted on Prisma Health’s website.