2 new COVID-19 deaths reported in Beaufort County Friday; 88 new confirmed cases
Two new COVID-19 related deaths were reported in Beaufort County on Friday by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
One of the deaths, an elderly individual whose death was confirmed as related to COVID-19, died on Wednesday. Another individual, whose age wasn’t released, had a “probable” link to COVID-19 and died June 23.
DHEC declined to provide additional information on the deaths Friday afternoon.
Eighty-eight new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the county on Friday, bringing the total to 2,809 since the pandemic began, according to data from DHEC.
As of Friday, the Bluffton ZIP code of 29910 continued to lead the county with 756 cases.
South Carolina has recorded 78,298 cases of the novel coronavirus and 1,339 confirmed deaths since the pandemic began.
There were 46 confirmed deaths reported Friday statewide.
Beaufort County’s seven-day average of new daily coronavirus cases was 69 Friday.
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.
Twenty-one percent of 8,877 COVID-19 tests completed statewide Thursday were positive, DHEC says.
DHEC reported Friday that 64 percent of hospital beds in the state Thursday were occupied and that 1,668 of the 7,998 occupied beds are for COVID-19 patients. Of the 1,458 ventilators in the state, 532 are in use and 241 of those for COVID-19 patients.
Beaufort County could have as many as 17,255 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.
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 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.