3 deaths, 43 new coronavirus cases reported in Beaufort County on Thursday
Three new coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office on Thursday, bringing the week’s total to five.
The county also had 43 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 1,321, according to data from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The latest deaths
A 60-year-old Bluffton woman died at Hilton Head Hospital on Tuesday and two Beaufort men, 78 and 65, died at Beaufort Memorial Hospital on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, according to deputy coroner David Ott.
On Monday, the coroner’s office confirmed the deaths of a 29-year-old Florida man who died in Bluffton on June 23 and a 66-year-old Beaufort man died at Beaufort Memorial Hospital on June 27. The Beaufort man lived at Bayview Manor nursing home before being transferred to the hospital.
Twenty-one deaths have been reported in the county since the start of the pandemic, per DHEC and the Coroner’s Office data. The two agencies do not track data the same way, and DHEC does not track the deaths of individuals who do not live in South Carolina.
The latest cases
South Carolina had 1,629 new confirmed cases Thursday, including Beaufort County’s 43, and reported 19 additional deaths. Fifteen of the deaths reported Thursday were elderly people and the remaining four patients were middle-aged.
The state has had a total of 39,587 cases and 777 deaths since DHEC started recording data.
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 total count of cases includes anyone who has tested positive since the pandemic started. The data also includes those who have recovered or died.
Mask mandates
New mask requirements have been passed in Beaufort County and all of its towns as the area saw a rise in cases following Memorial Day weekend and a loosening of restrictions. Officials are worried as they look ahead to the July 4th weekend.
Unincorporated Beaufort County, the City of Beaufort, the Town of Bluffton, the Town of Hilton Head, and the Town of Port Royal all adopted their own resolutions. The Island Packet created a guide to help people living in or visiting the areas to know the rules (and punishments for not following them).
Nearby in Hardeeville, the City Council unanimously voted to not adopt any sort of mask requirements because they believed enforcing the rules would be too difficult.
Jasper County Council is reviewing a possible mask ordinance at their regularly scheduled Monday meeting. The Town of Ridgeland has no plans to discuss mask requirements for their area.
Jasper County also announced the closure of its office buildings to the public after seeing cases steadily rise in the rural community for three weeks.
