1 new COVID-19 death reported in Beaufort County Wednesday; 17 new cases
The COVID-19 related death an elderly Beaufort County resident was reported Wednesday by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The individual died Friday, the DHEC data shows. The department does not release any other specific information about COVID-19 deaths.
Since the pandemic started, 58 people in Beaufort County have died of COVID-19, according to data from DHEC and the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office. That number includes 28 deaths recorded in July — the county’s deadliest month for the disease.
Eight deaths have been reported so far in August in the county.
South Carolina has had 2,057 confirmed deaths since the pandemic began, including 45 confirmed on Wednesday. One of the individuals is described as a young adult, 6 as middle aged and 38 as elderly.
DHEC identifies anyone under the age of 18 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, such as exact age or gender, is released by the agency.
South Carolina has recorded 102,143 cases of the novel coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
Beaufort County’s 17 new cases Wednesday brings the total to 4,200 cases since March, according to DHEC.
The Bluffton ZIP code of 29910 continued to lead the county with 1,055 cases.
Beaufort County’s seven-day average of new daily coronavirus cases was 52 Wednesday. That it is the lowest the average has been for more than month.
The highest average since the pandemic started was recorded on July 31 at 98.
The county’s lowest seven-day average for new cases was zero on May 9.
Between July 29 and Aug. 11, the county had a “high” incident rate of 484.1 per 100,000 people, according to DHEC.
The county showed a stable two-week incidence rate trend, meaning cases did not significantly increase or decrease from the previous two weeks.
Of the 34,518 tests completed in the county since the pandemic started, 15 percent have been positive.
Nineteen percent of the 3,627 COVID-19 tests completed statewide Tuesday were positive, DHEC says.
There have been 212 hospitalizations in Beaufort County since the pandemic started.
About 9.7 percent of the county’s COVID-19 patients required hospitalization at the time of illness, DHEC reports.
Seventy-nine percent of inpatient hospital beds statewide were occupied as of Wednesday. COVID-19 patient occupy 1,366 of the 8,261 beds.
Of the 1,568 ventilators statewide, 514 are in use and 206 of those are COVID-19 patients.
COVID-19 patients also are occupying 306 of the 1,462 intensive care unit beds in the state.
Beaufort County could have as many as 25,800 undiagnosed cases, DHEC officials say.
Positive cases are those in which a patient has been tested for and been diagnosed with coronavirus. Because of a lack of access to testing, state health officials have said that for every confirmed case, up to nine people could be infected but have not been tested.
The total count 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 correct 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 that people who die 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.
This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 6:04 PM with the headline "1 new COVID-19 death reported in Beaufort County Wednesday; 17 new cases."