43 new coronavirus cases reported in Beaufort County on Sunday, no additional deaths
State health officials reported 43 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Beaufort County on Sunday.
No additional deaths due to COVID-19 were reported.
The number of new cases was the highest since Aug. 29, and the seven-day average of 30.9 daily cases is the highest since Aug. 17. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control says Beaufort County has had a moderately high rate of new cases during the past two weeks, with 217.6 per 100,000 people.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has cautioned of a possible rise in cases following Labor Day weekend.
“We don’t have to completely close down and completely change our lifestyle, but there are ways we can do these things much, much more safely than we have for the previous holidays,” said Dr. Linda Bell, the state’s top epidemiologist, in late August.
Local numbers
- Number of viral and antibody tests conducted: 299
- Percent of positive viral tests for last week: 15.4%
- Seven-day average of new cases in Beaufort County: 30.9
- Two-week incidence rate: 217.6 cases per 100,000 people, “moderately high”
An incidence rate measures how quickly a disease is spreading through a given population.
Dr. Scott Curry, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina, said counties should aim to have a two-week incidence rate of less than 50 new cases per 100,000 people.
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has suggested that governments reopen only after the percentage of positive tests is below 5% for at least two weeks.
Statewide numbers
- Percent of positive non-antibody tests: 12.6%
- New cases announced Sunday: 603
- Total cases: 122,944
- New deaths announced Sunday: 10
- Total deaths: 2,748
Experts fear a possible surge of new infections this fall as schools resume in-person classes. At the University of South Carolina, hundreds of students have already been diagnosed with COVID-19.
In Beaufort County, all 26 members of the USC Beaufort’s women’s soccer team had to quarantine after two members tested positive last month.
Cases by ZIP code
Bluffton’s ZIP code of 29910 continues to lead the county with 1,208 cases this year. Beaufort’s 29902 ZIP code, meanwhile, has recorded 978 cases since March, the second-highest figure in the county.
Coronavirus infections at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island are being reported in the 29902 ZIP code.
More information on Beaufort County ZIP code data can be found at the following link. Click on it, then click on “Go to Cases,” then click on Beaufort County on the S.C. map: bit.ly/BeaufortCountyZIP
What are DHEC’s recommendations?
State health officials say residents should continue to practice social distancing and should wear a mask in public.
“Recently, our (case) numbers have been slowly trending downward,” said Bell, DHEC’s top epidemiologist, in late August. “For that to continue, we cannot let up.”
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow South Carolina’s coronavirus data is compiled
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s total COVID-19 case count includes anyone who has tested positive since the pandemic began. The data also include those who have recovered or died.
The state agency does not provide an overall, county-by-county number of cases versus the number of people who have recovered.
DHEC counts deaths based on where a patient lives rather than where they died.
