Eight new COVID-19 cases reported Sunday in Beaufort County; positive rate below 4%
Eight new coronavirus cases were reported in Beaufort County on Sunday. No additional deaths were reported.
On Friday, state officials released a plan detailing how the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control intends to distribute a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine when it becomes available.
Because the supply of vaccines will be limited initially, front-line medical workers and nursing home residents will be among those who are prioritized, DHEC said.
“COVID-19 vaccine supply is expected to increase substantially and be more widely available to the public in 2021,” the agency said Friday.
Starting Monday, Beaufort County School District’s students and staff will have their temperatures checked every day before entering school buildings. If a student’s temperature is higher than 100.4 degrees, the student will be taken to the nurse for a preliminary health assessment.
The schools aren’t accepting visitors, and any parents who have to come inside the school building will be screened and must have a temperature below 100.4 degrees.
The district has also published a COVID-19 dashboard that will be updated every weekday with coronavirus cases by school. The dashboard will include cases from only the last two weeks “since the typical quarantining period ranges from 10-14 days,” according to a district email sent to parents Thursday.
As of Friday, the district has reported one new COVID-19 case this week, five new cases last week and 20 new cases in total since Sept. 28, the week before hybrid — in-person and online — classes began.
Local numbers
- Number of viral test results reported Saturday: 250
- Average percent of positive viral tests in the past week: 3.8%
- Seven-day average of new cases in Beaufort County: 11.4
- Two-week incidence rate: 111.9 cases per 100,000 people, “moderate”
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 Saturday: 10.3%
- New cases announced Sunday: 722
- Total cases: 157,394
- New deaths announced Sunday: 12
- Total deaths: 3,439
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.
Cases by ZIP code
Bluffton’s ZIP code of 29910 continues to lead the county with 1,469 cases this year. Beaufort’s 29902 ZIP code, meanwhile, has recorded 1,140 cases since March, the second-highest figure in the county.
Hilton Head Island’s 29928 ZIP code, covering the southeastern part of the island, has 365 cases. The 29926 ZIP code covering the north side has 697 cases, according to DHEC data.
Coronavirus infections at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island are being reported in the 29902 ZIP code, state health officals have said.
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. People who are active in the community or can’t effectively social distance or wear a mask should be tested monthly, DHEC says.
“Recently, our (case) numbers have been slowly trending downward,” said Dr. Linda 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.
