105 new COVID-19 cases reported in Beaufort County Saturday, tying single-day high
Beaufort County on Saturday tied its single-day high for newly confirmed coronavirus infections with 105 new cases reported, according to data from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The county had also posted 105 new cases on Tuesday.
As of Saturday, 1,914 coronavirus cases have been discovered in Beaufort County since the pandemic began, DHEC data show.
No additional deaths were reported in the county Saturday
As of Saturday, the Bluffton ZIP code of 29910 continued to lead the county with 535 cases.
South Carolina has recorded a total of 54,538 cases of the novel coronavirus and 940 confirmed deaths since the start of the pandemic.
That number includes 18 new deaths reported Saturday in the state.
Eleven elderly people died, five middle-aged people died and one young adult died, DHEC reported Saturday. A child in Chester County also died, according to DHEC, marking the first confirmed pediatric death associated with COVID-19 in South Carolina.
Since the pandemic began in March, 24 COVID-19-related deaths have been connected to Beaufort County, according to the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.
Beaufort County’s seven-day average of new daily coronavirus cases was about 73 on Saturday, which is the highest average recorded this year.
The county’s lowest seven-day average for new cases was zero on May 9.
DHEC has reported Beaufort County as one of 24 counties with the highest incidence rates in the state. Health officials said the 24 counties each had 301 cases or more per 100,000 people reported between June 23 and July 6.
About 73% of hospital beds statewide were in use Saturday. Roughly 1,390 of the 7,906 occupied beds in the state were filled by patients who had either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.
DHEC data show 66.7% of the beds in Beaufort County hospitals, and 57.1% in Jasper County, were in use. DHEC does not provide a county-by-county breakdown of how hospital beds are being used.
Roughly 22% of 10,083 COVID-19 viral tests completed statewide Friday were positive, DHEC reported.
Case counts by ZIP codes
375 positive in Beaufort (29902)
179 positive northwest of Beaufort (29906)
89 positive east of Beaufort (29907)
101 positive in Okatie (29909)
535 positive in Bluffton (29910)
One positive on Daufuskie Island (29915)
69 positive on St. Helena Island (29920)
268 positive on Hilton Head Island (29926)
134 positive on Hilton Head (29928)
29 positive in Port Royal (29935)
110 positive in Ridgeland (29936)
140 positive in Hardeeville (29927)
25 positive in Seabrook (29940)
One positive in Sheldon (29941)
35 positive in Yemassee (29945)
Beaufort County could have as many as 11,757 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 COVID-19. 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.
The state agency collects data based on where a person resides, not where they were tested.
DHEC also 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.
