1 new Beaufort County coronavirus case, no new deaths reported Saturday
South Carolina health officials confirmed one new case of COVID-19 in Beaufort County Saturday afternoon, raising the total to 270 since the pandemic began.
There were no new coronavirus-related deaths reported in the county.
Statewide, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 266 new cases and 11 deaths on Saturday. That brings the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases to in South Carolina to 6,489 and the number of deaths to 267.
The announcement came as Beaufort County prepares for relaxed coronavirus restrictions. S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster announced Friday that his mandatory stay-at-home order will become “voluntary” beginning May 4.
Local restrictions have also relaxed. Coligny and Islanders Beach on Hilton Head Island were reopened for residents with beach passes Friday, and both saw an increase in visitors Saturday.
Town code enforcement officer Wendy Conant described both beaches Saturday as “crowded, but not crazy.”
Asked about coronavirus-related rules, she said: “We’re not really seeing any masks. And social distancing, not so much.”
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
Coronavirus cases by ZIP code
Here is the breakdown of confirmed coronavirus cases in Beaufort County ZIP codes.
▪ 84 positive in Beaufort (29902)
▪ 41 positive northwest of Beaufort (29906)
▪ 22 positive east of Beaufort (29907)
▪ 14 positive in Okatie (29909)
▪ 48 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)
▪ 14 positive in Ridgeland (29936)
▪ Five positive in Hardeeville (29927)
▪ Two positive in Seabrook (29940)
▪ One positive in Sheldon (29941)
▪ Four positive in Yemassee (29945)
Beaufort County could have as many as 1,652 undiagnosed cases as of May 2, DHEC’s data show.
Hospital capacity
As of Saturday afternoon, 48.7 percent of hospital beds in Beaufort County were being utilized, and 57.7 percent statewide, for all types of hospitalizations, DHEC data shows.
Of the 6,573 beds currently in use statewide, 370 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 2, 2020 at 4:47 PM.