3 new COVID-19 deaths and 113 cases reported Beaufort County Thursday

Three new COVID-19 related deaths of elderly Beaufort County residents were reported by S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control Thursday.

One of the confirmed deaths happened on Monday and two on Tuesday. DHEC also reported two probable COVID-19 deaths of elderly county residents on Saturday.

The state agency already reported three confirmed deaths for Saturday.

With 21 confirmed deaths, July has been the deadliest month for COVID-19 in the county since the pandemic started. Half of the county’s 42 confirmed deaths since the pandemic began occurred in July,

The month’s death toll also more than doubles the previous record set in April of nine as well as the total of number of deaths recorded in June of seven.

South Carolina has recorded 1,599 confirmed deaths since the pandemic began.

Statewide, there were 48 confirmed deaths reported Thursday. Ten of the individuals were middle-aged and 38 are described as elderly.

DHEC identifies anyone under the age of 17 as pediatric; between the ages of 18 and 34 as a young adult; 35 to 64 as middle aged; and 65 or older as elderly. No other identifying information is released by the agency, such as exact age or gender.

A new record of daily cases also was set Thursday with the announced of 113 new cases in the county. The county has recorded 3,387 cases since the pandemic started.

As of Thursday, the Bluffton ZIP code of 29910 continued to lead the county with 896 cases.

South Carolina has recorded a total of 87,117 cases of the novel coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

Beaufort County’s seven-day average of new daily coronavirus cases was 96 Thursday — the highest recorded average since the pandemic started.

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

DHEC reported that every county in the state but four — Spartanburg, Marlboro, Pickens and Oconee — had 301 cases or more per 100,000 people, reported between July 14 and July 27.

The state agency also reported that Beaufort County was seeing an increase in incidence rates for the past two weeks compared to the previous two-week period.

Twenty-one percent of the 7,600 COVID-19 tests completed statewide Wednesday were positive, DHEC says.

Eight-one percent of the 1,440 intensive care unit beds in South Carolina were occupied Thursday, according to DHEC.

There are 1,563 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the state with 389 of them in ICU and 245 on a ventilator.

Beaufort County could have as many as 20,806 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.