Covid-19 cases in Beaufort County surpass 600 with 24 reported Monday

Beaufort County’s COVID-19 total surpassed 600 as 24 new cases but no additional deaths were reported Monday by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Overall, the county has recorded 615 coronavirus cases and 14 deaths since the pandemic started.

As of Monday, Bluffton led the county with 157 cases.

South Carolina recorded 19,378 cases of the novel coronavirus and 602 deaths as of June 15.

The highest increase in cases within the county since the pandemic started was recorded Friday at 33.

The county’s seven-day average rose Monday for the eighth day in a row. At 22, the average was the highest since the pandemic started.

The county’s lowest seven-day average for new cases was zero on May 9.

About 66% of hospital beds statewide were in use Monday.

About 536 of the 6,947 beds were occupied by patients who either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

DHEC data shows 74% of the beds in Beaufort County, and 61% in Jasper County, were in use.

DHEC does not provide a county-by-county breakdown of how hospital beds are being used.

Coronavirus-related deaths

Here are the Beaufort County deaths recorded by the coroner’s office as of Monday.

• 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.
• A 79-year-old Bluffton woman who died May 4.
• A 73-year-old Okatie woman who died May 26.
• A 59-year-old Okatie man who died May 27.

Cases by ZIP code

Beaufort County could have as many as 3,778 undiagnosed cases, DHEC officials say.

DHEC does not provide an overall, county-by-county number of cases versus the number of people who have recovered. It also does not release any identifying information or specifics concerning underlying conditions a patient might have.

Positive cases are those in which a patient has been tested for and diagnosed with coronavirus. Because of a lack of access to testing, state health officials have said that for every 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.

DHEC counts deaths based on where the patient lives rather than where he or she died.

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