5 people died in 3 days from coronavirus in Beaufort County, Coroner’s Office says

Five more people, one of them middle-aged, have died from COVID-19 in three days in Beaufort County, making July the deadliest month for the disease in the county since the pandemic started in March.

The oldest victim is a 95-year-old, and the youngest is 60-years-old. Two died at nursing facilities, and three were Bluffton residents, according to information from Beaufort County Coroner Chief Deputy David Ott.

They are five of 10 people with deaths related to the coronavirus in the county in July. The month’s death toll surpasses the record set in April of 9.

Overall, 31 people have died because of the coronavirus in the county since the pandemic started, according to Coroner’s Office data.

Here are the details available about the individuals who recently died:

• An 88-year-old Port Royal woman died July 17 at Beaufort Memorial Hospital.
• A 95-year-old Beaufort woman died July 18 at Beaufort Nursing and Rehab.
• A 92-year-old Bluffton man died July 19 at NHC HealthCare Bluffton.
• A 60-year-old Bluffton woman died July 19 at Coastal Carolina Hospital.
• An 80-year-old Bluffton man died July 19 at Coastal Carolina Hospital.

The coroner’s office previously reported a 65-year-old St. Helena Man as having died of COVID-19 on July 13.

Ott said Monday that the Coroner’s Office was told the man previously tested positive for COVID-19 but was recently alerted that test results at the time of his death showed he didn’t have the disease.

The man has been removed from the total count, Ott said Monday.

Thirty-one new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Beaufort County on Monday, bringing the total to 2,517 since the pandemic began, according to data from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

As of Monday, the Bluffton ZIP code of 29910 continued to lead the county with 675 cases.

South Carolina has recorded 69,765 cases of the novel coronavirus and 221 confirmed deaths since the pandemic began.

There were 19 confirmed deaths reported Monday statewide. Sixteen of the individuals were elderly and three middle aged.

Beaufort County’s seven-day average of new daily coronavirus cases was 72 Monday.

The highest seven-day average of 80 was recorded on July 16.

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, Marlboro, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens and Pickens — were seeing an increase in incidence rates for the past two weeks compared to the previous two-week period.

Eighteen percent of 12,679 COVID-19 tests completed statewide Sunday were positive, DHEC says.

Beaufort County could have as many as 15,462 undiagnosed cases, DHEC officials say.

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 has put a hold on reporting state hospital data as it transitions to a new national data program.

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’s totals can have small increases and decreases day to day as officials find discrepancies in the data.

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.

DHEC counts deaths based on where the patient lived rather than where he or she died.

Coronavirus cases at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island are being reported in the 29902 ZIP code.