11.6% of COVID-19 tests in Beaufort Co. have been positive since pandemic began
Since the start of the pandemic, 11.6% of all viral COVID-19 tests performed in Beaufort County have come back positive, according to data released Wednesday.
A total of 14,270 viral tests have been administered in the county this year, according to S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control data obtained by The Island Packet under the Freedom of Information Act.
Of the roughly 14,000 tests, 1,667 were positive, according to the Wednesday data. Just over 12,600 were negative. It’s unclear at what time the testing numbers were compiled. DHEC on Wednesday publicly reported a total of 1,680 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Beaufort County this year.
DHEC releases statewide testing totals daily, but there is no regular county-by-county breakdown of those numbers.
About 3.9% of antibody tests performed in the county have also come back positive, the data show. Antibody tests, or serology tests, determine only whether a person was likely infected by the coronavirus previously.
More than 2,800 antibody tests have been administered in Beaufort County — 111 of those were positive, 2,719 were negative.
The first viral test in the county was administered March 10, according to DHEC. The first antibody test was performed March 17.
As of Tuesday, over 453,000 viral tests had been conducted statewide, according to DHEC. Just under 42,000 antibody tests had been performed.
DHEC has been pushing to test more people across the Palmetto State amid a surge in newly confirmed coronavirus cases. South Carolina has seen over 48,700 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, with a rising positive rate of infections.
On Wednesday, DHEC reported a positivity rate of 21% for tests conducted statewide Tuesday.
“What everyone — young, old, middle-aged — should be concerned about is just the rising in the percent positive,” said Russell Baxley, CEO of Beaufort Memorial Hospital, in an interview July 1. “Community spread, as we’ve been saying, is more prevalent than we thought.”
