5 new coronavirus cases reported in Beaufort County Tuesday. 259 cases overall

Five new positive coronavirus cases were reported in Beaufort County on Tuesday for a total of 259, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

DHEC reported no new COVID-19 deaths for Beaufort County, but said that statewide, 15 died of the virus.

One of the deaths was of a middle-aged individual, and 14 were elderly people.

Beaufort County could have as many as 1,591 undiagnosed cases, DHEC officials say. For every person who tests positive for the coronavirus, there could be up to nine people who are infected but have not been tested.

Overall, 5,735 people have tested positive for the coronavirus statewide since the start of the global pandemic.

Coronavirus-related deaths

As of Tuesday, there have been ten deaths in Beaufort County, according to DHEC and the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.

Overall the state has seen 192 deaths.

Here are the Beaufort County deaths recorded by the coroner’s office as of Tuesday, April 28:

• 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 71-year-old Hilton Head man who died April 12.
• A 93-year-old Bluffton man who died April 13.
• An 80-year-old Okatie man who died April 19.
• An 80-year-old Yemassee man who died April 23

DHEC’s data on COVID-19 deaths continues to be unclear and can conflict with data collected by the coroner’s office.

The state agency dropped the county’s death toll from seven to six on April 19. It then added three deaths on April 21 and another April 24 for a total of 10 deaths.

A note at the bottom of DHEC’s daily releases says the data will adjust to reflect any reclassified cases.

It also says deaths are reported by where a person lives, which differs from the way coroners typically collect data. Coroners base their findings on where a person dies.

DHEC does not report information about each victim such as age or city of residence.

The coroner’s office’s death totals have steadily increased.

“We are tracking confirmed COVID-19 deaths that are reported to us by the hospitals,” Chief Deputy Coroner David Ott said last week.

He said the Coroner’s Office data also has one home death and one nursing home death. It also includes a Beaufort County individual who died at Jasper County’s Coastal Carolina Hospital.

“Our numbers are completely separate from DHEC,” Ott said.

He also said DHEC doesn’t provide details about its case count to the coroner’s office.

The coroner’s office is required to report all coronavirus cases that happen outside of a hospital to DHEC, he said.

Hospital capacity

As of Tuesday morning, 42.1% of hospital beds in Beaufort County were being utilized, and 59.8% statewide, for all types of hospitalizations, DHEC data shows.

DHEC also reported about 76 percent of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the state have recovered. About 24 percent of positive cases remain ill.

A 59-year-old Beaufort man was one of two patients released from Beaufort Memorial Hospital April 15 after being seriously ill with COVID-19.

Coronavirus cases by ZIP code

Here is the breakdown of confirmed coronavirus cases in Beaufort County ZIP codes.

• 82 positive in Beaufort (29902)
• 38 positive northwest of Beaufort (29906)
• 22 positive east of Beaufort (29907)
• 12 positive in Okatie (29909)
• 47 positive in Bluffton (29910)
• One positive on Daufuskie Island (29915)
• Nine positive on St. Helena Island (29920)
• 17 positive on Hilton Head Island (29926)
• 11 positive on Hilton Head (29928)
• Nine positive in Port Royal (29935)
• 12 positive in Ridgeland (29936)
• Five positive in Hardeeville (29927)
• One positive in Seabrook (29940)
• One positive in Sheldon (29941)
• Four positive in Yemassee (29945)

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.

DHEC’s totals can have small increases and decreases day to day as officials find discrepancies in the data.

The cases include anyone who has tested positive since the pandemic started. The data also includes those who have recovered or died. According to DHEC, these numbers are current as of April 27.

Coronavirus cases at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island are being reported in the 29902 ZIP code.

This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 5:48 PM.