37 new coronavirus cases, 1 probable death in Beaufort County reported Saturday
There were 37 new cases of the coronavirus in Beaufort County on Saturday, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
One additional person has died in Beaufort County, but that death’s link to COVID-19 is listed as “probable.” If the person died due to the virus, it would bring this week’s death toll to six people.
The age of the person who died has not yet been determined by state or local health officials.
Beaufort County has had 1,408 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to data from DHEC.
Twenty-one people have died due to the virus in the county in addition to Saturday’s probable death.
The county has seen double-digit new case numbers for 26 days straight. Prior to June 8, new case numbers were mostly in the single digits.
As of Friday, 463,201 tests have been conducted in South Carolina for the coronavirus.
The latest deaths
Information on the probable county death was not available from the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office on Saturday afternoon.
A 60-year-old Bluffton woman died at Hilton Head Hospital on Tuesday.
A Beaufort man, 78, died at Beaufort Memorial Hospital on Wednesday.
A second Beaufort man, 65, died at Beaufort Memorial Hospital on Thursday, according to chief 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.
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 1,836 new confirmed cases Saturday, reported 19 additional confirmed deaths, and one probable death.
The state has had a total of 43,260 cases and 806 deaths since DHEC started recording data.
Here is the breakdown of confirmed coronavirus cases in Beaufort County ZIP codes:
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 learn 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 it 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.
This story was originally published July 4, 2020 at 12:48 PM.
