COLUMBIA — South Carolina officials have reported five new COVID-19 deaths in Pickens County over the past week as the virus continues to cause damage around the state, including a minor outbreak at a Pickens nursing home.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported the deaths of three elderly people and two middle-age people in the county, with two deaths reported Thursday, one Friday and two more Sunday.

The number of cases in the county have continued to rise steadily as well, as at least 27 new confirmed cases of the virus were reported each day from last Tuesday to Monday, when the county’s number of confirmed cases reached 1,428. The county has now had 14 confirmed COVID-19-related deaths. Tuesday’s numbers were unavailable at press time.

Pickens County has dropped in the statewide rankings for rate of transmission, as it now has 15th-lowest rate of South Carolina’s 46 counties, with 1,125.44 cases per 100,000 residents.

According to DHEC’s list of cases at nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the state, Manna Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Pickens has had 11 staff members and four residents test positive for COVID-19 over the past 30 days. A single staff member has also tested positive for the virus at both the Clemson Area Retirement Center and Six Mile Retirement Center within the past 30 days as well. No virus-related deaths have been reported at county nursing facilities in the past month.

The total number of confirmed cases across the state was at 71,213 as of Monday, with 232 probable deaths, 1,147 confirmed deaths and 17 probable deaths.

DHEC officials announced Monday that the state had exceeded its testing goal for the month, performing 143,336 tests from July 1 through July 16, surpassing the target of 140,000 tests.

As of Monday, DHEC and partners had held 503 free testing events across the state since May, and a total of 638,194 tests had been performed in South Carolina. There are dozens of mobile testing events planned through Aug. 15, with new testing events added regularly, and there are 182 permanent COVID-19 testing facilities across the state.

Mobile testing clinics are updated daily at scdhec.gov/covid19mobileclinics and permanent testing locations are available at scdhec.gov/covid19testing.

DHEC officials also issued a news release Friday asking South Carolinians to “Mask Up” as part of a new statewide campaign aimed at encouraging youth and young adults to embrace wearing a face mask in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In South Carolina, young adults between the ages of 21-30 currently make up 22 percent of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state, and those ages 11-20 make up 11 percent of confirmed cases, DHEC said Friday.

The data follows national trends that indicate a growing number of young adults and youth are testing positive for COVID-19, according to officials.

“Most of the virus spreads through the air in drops of moisture when the person contagious with the virus breaths, talks, coughs or sneezes,” DHEC physician and medical consultant Dr. Michael Kacka said. “Wearing a mask over the nose and mouth collects and traps some of those droplets and reduces the amount of virus someone puts out into the air around them. It doesn’t filter out all of the virus, however, which is why social distancing is very important along with wearing masks. By reducing the amount of virus put out into the air, we reduce the chances that those sharing a space will encounter enough virus to become infected.”

To help stop the spread in the Palmetto State, DHEC has created free, reliable COVID-19 mask content that anyone can share on social media to encourage their friends and followers to wear a face covering in public. Social media posts, graphics, and videos to be shared online can be found at scdhec.gov/staySCstrong.