6 new Beaufort Co. coronavirus cases reported Friday as McMaster loosens restrictions
South Carolina health officials confirmed 6 new cases of COVID-19 in Beaufort County Friday afternoon, raising the total to 269 since the pandemic began.
There were no new coronavirus-related deaths reported in the county.
Across the state, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 160 new cases and 12 additional deaths. The epidemic has claimed at least 256 lives as of Friday, according to DHEC’s data. Statewide, 6,258 people have tested positive since the pandemic began.
The announcement came as S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster said during a Friday press conference he was rescinding a slew of coronavirus restrictions.
His mandatory stay-at-home order will become “voluntary” beginning May 4, he said.
McMaster also allowed restaurants to begin outdoor dining service starting Monday and removed travel restrictions on people visiting from COVID-19 hotspots, including the requirement they self-quarantine for 14 days. Short-term rental companies may again rent to people from these areas, he said.
Also Friday, about a dozen Beaufort and Jasper County residents participated in a “MAGA Mayday Rally For Freedom,” driving decorated cars along U.S. 278 in Bluffton to show support for President Donald Trump and protest stay-at-home orders, reported The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. The small gathering was one of about 50 planned across the U.S.
Coronavirus-related deaths
Here are the Beaufort County deaths recorded by the coroner’s office as of Friday, May 1:
- 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
Beaufort County could have as many as 1,652 undiagnosed cases as of May 1, DHEC’s data show.
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 or reclassify cases.
The cases include anyone who has tested positive since the pandemic started. The data also includes those who have recovered or died.
Coronavirus cases at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island are being reported in the 29902 ZIP code.
Hospital Capacity
As of Friday afternoon, 50.7 percent of hospital beds in Beaufort County were being utilized, and 59.2 percent statewide, for all types of hospitalizations, DHEC data shows.
Of 6,743 beds currently in use statewide, 300 are occupied by patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are under investigation.
As of April 30, DHEC reported a recovery rate of 78% for people who have tested positive for the coronavirus, although that number is based on a sample of only about 4,800 cases (not all those who have tested positive in the state). DHEC said 22% of that sample remained ill.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 5:04 PM.
