Staff Reports

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Spartanburg County jumped more than 36 percent Tuesday when the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control announced there are now 120 cases in the county.

State health officials announced 187 new cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in South Carolina, including an additional 32 cases in Spartanburg County. There are now 2,417 cases in the state.

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DHEC announced three more fatalities in the state, bringing the state’s death total related to the virus to 51.

“The additional deaths occurred in patients who were elderly with underlying health conditions,” according to the DHEC announcement. One of the fatalities was from Greenville County and two were from Lexington County.

Three more cases were announced in Union County, bringing the total number of cases there to 15. Cherokee County has four cases.

Testing in South Carolina

As of April 6, DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory has conducted 8,123 tests for COVID-19. Of these tests, 941 were positive and 7,182 were negative. A total of 23,680 tests by both public and labs have been conducted in the state.

Hospital Bed Capacity

As of this Tuesday morning, 5,594 hospital beds were available and 6,376 were utilized, which is a 53.3 percent statewide hospital bed utilization rate. “The overall trend this week has been in greater hospital bed availability, specifically a 5 percent decrease in hospital bed utilization since March 23,” DHEC stated.

Protect yourself

State health officials reminded residents: South Carolinians are encouraged to stay home and minimize contact with people outside their households to prevent the spread of the disease. Other steps the public should take include:

Monitoring for symptoms

Practicing social distancing

Avoiding touching frequently touched items

Regularly washing your hands