Beaufort Co.’s COVID-19 trends worsen; SC official warns of ‘perfect storm for disease’
Beaufort County’s latest COVID-19 numbers are sobering.
The county’s seven-day average of newly confirmed infections, as of Thursday, was 124 cases per day, which is a new record.
The local positivity rate for COVID-19 tests was 20.8%. That’s the highest rate since last August.
And Courtney McDermott, a spokeswoman for Beaufort Memorial Hospital, in a Wednesday statement confirmed that the county’s largest medical center was treating 41 coronavirus patients.
The ongoing COVID-19 spike is starting to mirror the Lowcountry’s summer surge of 2020. But that latter outbreak occurred long before vaccines were authorized for use.
Dr. Linda Bell, the state’s top epidemiologist, during a Wednesday briefing with reporters said she’s “never been more concerned about the health of our state.”
“Some in our nation and in our state are making choices now that are causing us to lose a battle against an infectious disease for which we have the weapons to prevent,” Bell said. “More than 10,000 people have lost their lives in our state and more than 45,000 doses of lifesaving vaccine have expired and gone to waste. ... The juxtaposition of those two facts is really heartbreaking.”
“I’m greatly concerned that this school year could be a perfect storm for disease spread if we have unvaccinated and unmasked students and teachers together,” Bell added.
The health official begged unvaccinated people to roll up their sleeves for a shot. (Only about 43.7% of Beaufort County’s estimated population has been fully vaccinated, according to state data and U.S. Census Bureau estimates.)
The vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are still extremely protective against severe COVID-19 cases, including those caused by the delta variant, Bell said.
Delta, which was first discovered in India late last year, has rapidly spread across South Carolina since early July.
“We are headed in the wrong direction right now, and we are headed there quickly,” Bell said.
Here’s the latest Beaufort County coronavirus data from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control:
New cases reported Thursday: 84 confirmed, 17 probable
New cases reported Wednesday: 142 confirmed, 32 probable
New deaths reported from Wednesday to Thursday: 1 confirmed
Seven-day average of new cases: 124 confirmed infections per day
Two-week incidence rate: 924.4 cases per 100,000 people
ZIP code data
Bluffton ZIP code, 29910: 5,409 cases since the pandemic began
Hilton Head Island ZIP code, 29926: 2,294 cases
Hilton Head ZIP code, 29928: 1,337 cases
Beaufort ZIP code, 29902: 2,267 cases
