COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) – New coronavirus cases in South Carolina continue as state fitness officials reported 918 more on Saturday.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control said nearly 15% of these new cases occurred in Richland County, while academics returned to the University of South Carolina and other campuses.HEC also showed 32 new virus-like deaths.
According to Associated Press data, the moving average of new instances over more than two weeks has increased by about 33%.
Since March, the state has recorded more than 122,000 COVID-19s and at least 2,738 deaths.
Richland County led the state with the maximum number of new instances: 134 on Saturday, the state reported.Neighboring Lexington County had 61 new instances, while Spartanburg reported 92 new instances.
Before Labor Day weekend, fitness experts warned of a imaginable increase in cases where citizens take vacations on crowded beaches and students return to school.
The number of active instances of COVID 19 on the University of South Carolina campus increased to 1,443, the school announced Friday. When the fall semester began just over two weeks ago, on August 20, the university had 46 active instances.of about 35,000 academics, this means that at least one in 25 academics has been inflamed lately by the virus.
“While our overall number of positive cases remains high, this week we’ve noticed symptoms of relief in the number of cases on campus and in the rate of positivity,” University President Bob Caslen said.”However, after the holiday weekend, an increase in instances on campus is expected, in line with the national trend.”
Caslen said the university had rented 132 rooms at a local hotel over the next month to quarantine academics who were exposed to the new coronavirus.
Caslen also said that the highest number of cases in college can be attributed in one component to competitive school tests, a policy he had pledged to pursue.He and other school officials cited student behavior, especially at off-campus events, as one of the main reasons for the spread of the virus.He also said in a virtual corridor in the city on Wednesday that he has no immediate plans to close the campus.
State fitness officials said the virus had slowed down significantly in spaces that required masking and where citizens practiced social estating.