84-year-old man is Beaufort County’s 11th coronavirus related death, coroner’s office says

An 84-year-old Beaufort man is the 11th coronavirus-related death recorded in Beaufort County, Coroner’s Office deputy administrator Janet Horton said Wednesday.

The man died at an area hospital, she said. That death brings the county’s total to 11.

Statewide, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 11 new deaths Wednesday.

Six of those victims were elderly and five were middle aged.

Overall 203 people have died from coronavirus in the state.

DHEC says 5,881 people have tested positive for the virus statewide since the pandemic began.

The agency reported two new cases of coronavirus in Beaufort County Wednesday. Across the county, there were 262 cases.

Coronavirus-related deaths

Here are the Beaufort County deaths recorded by the coroner’s office as of Wednesday, April 29:

• 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
• An 84-year-old Beaufort man who died April 28

Hospital capacity

As of Wednesday morning, 49.6% of hospital beds in Beaufort County were being utilized, and 60.7% statewide, for all types of hospitalizations, DHEC data shows.

Of 6,932 beds currently in use statewide, 311 are occupied by patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are under investigation.

DHEC also is reporting about 76 percent of those 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.

• 83 positive in Beaufort (29902)
• 39 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)
• 10 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)

Beaufort County could have as many as 1,609 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.

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 28.

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

This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 4:48 PM.