Beaufort County logs 7 new COVID-19 deaths, highest case average since pandemic began
State health officials on Monday announced seven new COVID-19 deaths in Beaufort County. Five were confirmed fatalities and two were probable deaths.
The deaths were recently reported over the course of three days, solidifying August as the county’s deadliest stretch of the pandemic in recent months.
The county on Monday also logged a record-breaking average of new COVID-19 cases.
The county’s seven-day average of newly confirmed infections, as of Monday, spiked to 151 cases per day, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The Monday average broke the county’s previous record of 147 infections per day, which was set Sunday, DHEC data show.
Dr. Kurt Gambla, chief medical officer of Beaufort Memorial Hospital, in an interview added that the county’s largest medical center, as of Monday, was treating at least 40 coronavirus patients.
The recent surge of severely ill people at the hospital mirrors last summer’s devastating COVID-19 outbreak.
The delta variant, which is roughly twice as transmissible as the original coronavirus strain, has driven the latest spike in COVID-19 cases, experts say.
Here’s the latest Beaufort County coronavirus data from DHEC:
New cases reported Monday: 131 confirmed, 8 probable
New cases reported Sunday: 144 confirmed, 47 probable
New cases reported Saturday: 185 confirmed, 19 probable
New deaths reported from Saturday to Monday: 5 confirmed, 2 probable
Seven-day average of new cases: 151 confirmed infections per day
Two-week incidence rate: 1,289 cases per 100,000 people
Vaccination rate: 44.4% of Beaufort County’s population has been fully vaccinated
ZIP CODE DATA AS OF SATURDAY
Bluffton ZIP code, 29910: 1,286 cases since July 1
Hilton Head Island ZIP code, 29926: 461 cases
Hilton Head ZIP code, 29928: 194 cases
Beaufort ZIP code, 29902: 635 cases
Okatie ZIP code, 29909: 296 cases
