Sunday ended the deadliest week for the novel coronavirus in South Carolina, state estimates show.
23 new deaths were confirmed from COVID-19 Sunday, with more than 460 confirmed deaths in the past seven days alone – which is the deadliest for the new virus in the state so far last week, according to data from the state’s health department. .
In total, there have been more than 6,300 deaths in South Carolina since the start of the pandemic, data show.
In addition, the state saw more than 2,600 new cases of the new virus confirmed on Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to more than 396,000.
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The trends in South Carolina seem to mirror those across the country, with recent estimates from Johns Hopkins University showing that January is the deadliest month for the US since the pandemic began nearly a year ago.
The news comes after South Carolina confirmed the first cases of a worrying coronavirus variant in South Africa last week.
Two cases of the variant, known as B.1.351, were identified in two residents with no recent travel history, suggesting they were acquired locally.
Health officials said in a press release they were contacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after genome sequencing of a sample from South Carolina was found to be the variant.
“The arrival of the SARS-CoV-2 variant in our state is an important reminder to all South Carolina people that the fight against this deadly virus is far from over,” said the South Carolina Department of Health Interim Public Health. and Environmental Control (DHEC). Director, Dr. Brannon Traxler, at the time.
Over the weekend, Maryland became the second state in the nation to confirm its first case of the variant.
The case was confirmed in a Baltimore resident with no travel history abroad, suggesting the variant is likely circulating in the community, the Maryland Gov. office said. Larry Hogan.
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While experts have said the South African variant is more transmissible than COVID-19, they don’t think it’s more virulent, meaning it’s not more likely to cause more serious illness.
Experts have also stressed that existing coronavirus vaccines are likely to remain effective against the variant, with Moderna – his COVID-19 shot was the second to receive emergency approval in the US – expressing confidence in the vaccine’s ability to remain effective against emerging virus strains. , including the South African variant and a separate variant first identified in the UK, following results from a peer-reviewed study.
Fox News’ Kayla Rivas and Alexandria Hein contributed to this report.