20 new coronavirus cases, no deaths reported in Beaufort Co. Monday
The number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases in Beaufort County continues to fall.
Twenty new infections were reported in the county Monday, bringing the total number of cases this year to 4,554, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. One probable case was also reported.
Monday’s case count was one of the lowest in the county since early June.
The county’s seven-day average of new cases, meanwhile, was 29 on Monday. That figure has trended downward this month following a record high on July 31.
As of Monday, the Bluffton ZIP code of 29910 continued to lead the county with 1,130 total cases.
South Carolina has recorded 111,202 coronavirus cases in total since the pandemic began, DHEC data show.
No new COVID-19-related deaths were reported in Beaufort County on Monday.
Sixty-four people in the county have died of COVID-19 this year, according to DHEC. That number includes 28 deaths recorded in July — the county’s deadliest month for the disease.
Fourteen deaths have been reported in August, data show.
South Carolina, in total, has confirmed 2,387 coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic. Seven of those were reported Monday, including two middle-aged people from Anderson and Florence counties.
Just over 13% of the 4,090 non-antibody coronavirus test results reported statewide Sunday were positive, DHEC said Monday.
At medical centers, about 5% of Beaufort County’s COVID-19 cases have resulted in hospitalization this year, according to DHEC data.
Some 77.2%, or 173, hospital beds in the county were occupied as of Saturday.
About 7,630 inpatient hospital beds, meanwhile, were occupied statewide on Monday. Just under 980 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, with 248 of those people in ICU beds.
Beaufort County could have as many as 26,304 undiagnosed cases, DHEC officials say. That data on estimated cases, though, did not seem to be updated Monday.
Positive cases are those in which a patient has been tested for and been diagnosed with the 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.
The state agency 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 a patient lives rather than where they died.
Coronavirus cases at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island are being reported in the 29902 ZIP code.
