41 new COVID-19 cases reported in Beaufort County Sunday; total surpasses 857

Forty-one new cases of COVID-19 and 857 total overall were reported in Beaufort County on Sunday by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

As of Sunday, Bluffton continued to lead the county with 227 cases.

South Carolina has recorded a total of 24,661 cases of the novel coronavirus and 653 deaths overall since the pandemic began.

There were nine COVID-19 related deaths confirmed Sunday in the state. Six of the people who died were elderly and three were middle aged.

No new deaths were reported in Beaufort County on Sunday.

Beaufort County’s seven-day average of new coronavirus cases rose Sunday for the fourteenth day in a row. At 39, that average was the highest since the pandemic started.

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

About 68% of hospital beds statewide were in use Sunday.

About 692 of the 7,173 beds were occupied by patients who either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

DHEC data shows 69% of the beds in Beaufort County, and 54% 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 Thursday.

• 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.
• A 74-year-old Beaufort women who died June 13.

Cases by ZIP code

Beaufort County could have as many as 5,264 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 someone who dies from the coronavirus might have had.

Positive cases are those in which a patient has been tested for and been 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 total count of 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.