A middle-aged person with no underlying health conditions was the only death reported in South Carolina Sunday by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
It is the first death DHEC recorded in Jasper County. The county had 15 cases as of Sunday.
Six new cases were reported in Beaufort County for a total of 225.
Overall, 4,377 people have tested positive for the coronavirus statewide since the start of the global pandemic.
Beaufort continued to see the most cases in Beaufort County with 72 as of Sunday. Bluffton followed with 40.
A data tool from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation used by DHEC projects the COVID-19 peak happened Wednesday in South Carolina. However, that estimate depends on social distancing continuing until June 1.
The tool’s projection has changed since it first launched several weeks ago. It previously estimated South Carolina’s peak would hit in early May.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster reopened boat landings for launches over the weekend. He was expected late Monday to lift restrictions he placed weeks ago on some retail stores in the state, including clothing, furniture and jewelry stores, a source familiar with the governor’s plans told The State on Sunday.
Beaufort County has had eight coronavirus-related deaths. All were elderly patients with underlying health conditions, according to DHEC. They are:
An 81-year-old Beaufort man who died March 30.
A 72-year-old Beaufort man who died March 31.
An 86-year-old Hilton Head Island man who died April 3.
An 89-year-old Hilton Head woman who died April 4.
An 83-year-old Lady’s Island woman who died April 7.
A 75-year-old Bluffton man who died April 9.
A 75-year-old Hilton Head man who died April 12.
A 93-year-old Bluffton man who died April 13.
Overall, South Carolina has seen 120 deaths.
Coronavirus cases by ZIP Code
Two tents sit outside the emergency entrance to Beaufort Memorial Hospital as seen on Friday, April 3, 2020 as part of the care for patients experiencing symptoms that could be the coronavirus. Patients experiencing symptoms first go to the emergency entrance. If symptoms indicate they may need to get tested they are taken to the tent, left, to be screened more thoroughly and then to the next tent to be swabbed for Streptococcus or strep, the flu and COVID-19. Drew Martin dmartin@islandpacket.com
Here is the breakdown of coronavirus cases in Beaufort County ZIP codes, both positive and possible. According to DHEC, these numbers are current as of Sunday:
72 positive and 442 undiagnosed in Beaufort (29902)
No positive and six undiagnosed west of Beaufort (29904)
30 positive and 184 undiagnosed northwest of Beaufort (29906)
19 positive and 117 undiagnosed east of Beaufort (29907)
11 positive and 68 undiagnosed in Okatie (29909)
40 positive and 246 undiagnosed in Bluffton (29910)
One positive and 6 undaignosed on Daufuskie Island (29915)
Eight positive and 49 undiagnosed on St. Helena Island (29920)
17 positive and 104 undiagnosed on Hilton Head Island (29926)
Nine positive and 55 undiagnosed on Hilton Head Island (29928)
Seven positive and 43 undiagnosed in Port Royal (29935)
Eight positive and 49 undiagnosed in Ridgeland (29936)
Five positive and 31 undiagnosed in Hardeeville (29927)
One positive and six undiagnosed in Seabrook (29940)
One positive and six undiagnosed in Sheldon (29941)
Four positive and 25 undiagnosed in Yemassee (29945)
Parris Island cases are being recorded under the 29906 ZIP code, DHEC officials previously said.
Positive cases are those in which a patient has been tested and diagnosed with coronavirus. Because of a lack of access to testing, state health officials have said that for every one confirmed case, there could be up to nine people who are infected but have not been tested.
Coronavirus recovery
Beaufort residents David Jackson, seated, a survivor of COVID-19, is pushed down the hallway on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 after being treated for the coronavirus at Beaufort Memorial Hospital as his wife, Rebecca Jackson, third from left, holds his hand. David Jackson left the hospital after a months long battle with the coronavirus. Drew Martin dmartin@islandpacket.com
DHEC announced the virus’ recovery rate in a Friday news release.
Sixty-seven percent of South Carolina patients “confirmed to have had COVID-19 are estimated to have recovered from the disease,” the release said. Excluding the 120 people who have died of coronavirus, “the remaining patients are presumed to currently be experiencing some phase of the illness,” officials said.
The department will now report the recovery rate every Tuesday and Friday, although the news release offered few details on how it’s calculated.
A 59-year-old patient was released from Beaufort Memorial Hospital Wednesday after he recovered from COVID-19.
This story was originally published April 19, 2020 at 5:45 PM.
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Teresa Moss is a crime and public safety reporter for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette. She has worked as a journalist for 16 years for newspapers in Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas.
