3 deaths, new daily COVID record reported in Beaufort County Thursday

Three new COVID-19 deaths were reported in Beaufort County Thursday as the daily case count once again broke records, according to a S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control report.

A 92-year-old Hilton Head man, a 65-year-old St. Helena man and an 84-year-old Bluffton man are the newest COVID-19-related deaths in the county, according to Beaufort County Chief Deputy Coroner David Ott.

Ott said the Hilton Head man died July 12 at Hilton Head Head Hospital. The St. Helena man died July 13 at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. The Bluffton man died July 14 at Coastal Carolina Hospital.

This month Beaufort County has seen six deaths from COVID-19. Seven were recorded in June.

Since the pandemic began, 27 people have died in the county, according to coroner’s office data.

The county added 108 new cases to its 2,280 total Thursday, according to DHEC data.

As of Thursday, the Bluffton ZIP code of 29910 continued to lead the county with 616 cases.

South Carolina has recorded 63,880 cases of the novel coronavirus and 1,053 confirmed deaths since the pandemic began.

Beaufort County’s seven-day average of new daily coronavirus cases was 80 Thursday. It is the highest that average has been since the pandemic started.

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

DHEC reported Beaufort County as one of 32 counties with the highest incidence rates in the state. Health officials reported that the 32 counties each had 301 cases or more per 100,000 people reported between June 30 and July 13.

The state agency also reported that every county in the state but six — Sumter, Malboro, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens and Pickens — were seeing an increase in incidence rates for the past two weeks compared to the previous two-week period.

About 72% of hospital beds statewide were in use Thursday. About 1,578 of the 7,935 beds were occupied by patients who either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

DHEC data shows 73% of the beds in Beaufort County hospitals, and 55% in Jasper County, were in use. DHEC does not provide a county-by-county breakdown of how hospital beds are being used.

Twenty-one percent of 8,643 COVID-19 tests completed statewide Wednesday were positive, DHEC says.

Beaufort County could have as many as 14,006 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 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.

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.

This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 4:00 PM.