SC has one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the world. How is Beaufort County faring?
South Carolina has the fourth-worst COVID-19 outbreak on Earth.
That’s according to a startling analysis conducted by The New York Times, which maintains one of the most up-to-date coronavirus databases in the world.
The Times on Wednesday reported that South Carolina had a case rate of 105 new infections per 100,000 people in the past week.
If South Carolina and other U.S. states were individual countries, only three on Earth would have higher case rates than the Palmetto State: Tennessee, Mongolia and Grenada.
Grenada, which on Wednesday recorded the worst COVID-19 outbreak with a case rate of 147 infections per 100,000 people, is a small Caribbean country north of Venezuela. Mongolia is located in East Asia.
In comparison, the United States as a whole reported a case rate of 46 infections per 100,000 people.
When asked who bears responsibility for South Carolina’s latest surge, Dr. Brannon Traxler, director of public health at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, on Wednesday said, “I don’t think that this is a matter of who to blame.
“From a public health standpoint, we know that the answers to stopping the spread of this virus are vaccines, wearing masks, washing hands and practicing physical distancing,” Traxler said.
“DHEC is not interested, myself included, in pointing fingers or blaming one person or a group of people because this pandemic, which really is unprecedented, as we’ve all heard so many times, is just so complex. … We all have individual choices to make.”
Locally, the situation remains dire, though there’s some hope that the Lowcountry’s surge of delta cases is beginning to subside.
Beaufort County’s seven-day average of new infections, as of Wednesday, dropped to 108 cases per day. The average has been declining since last Friday.
Whether that’s an actual trend, though, remains to be seen. COVID-19 testing typically slows down during holiday weekends.
One thing is clear: Coronavirus deaths have spiked in Beaufort County since Sept. 1.
DHEC has recorded 12 confirmed and five probable COVID-19 fatalities in the first eight days of September.
In comparison, DHEC announced two confirmed and two probable deaths in the first eight days of August, according to an analysis of state data.
Coronavirus hospitalizations also remain high in Beaufort County.
Beaufort Memorial Hospital, as of Monday, was treating 53 coronavirus patients. Ten of those people were in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Roughly 86% of COVID-19 patients at the medical center were unvaccinated.
For context: During the peak of the winter surge, the hospital had only 24 coronavirus patients on Jan. 8.
What’s happening in schools?
Between Aug. 30 and Sunday, the Beaufort County School District logged 236 new COVID-19 cases, with 220 of those infections among students and 16 among staff.
During the same time period, 2,839 students and 49 staff were in quarantine, which is a new record for the district. About one in every eight BCSD students was quarantined last week.
Since school began on Aug. 16, the district has recorded 670 COVID-19 cases. About 2.7% of BCSD’s combined student and staff population of 24,400 has tested positive for COVID-19 in the past three weeks.
District spokeswoman Candace Bruder on Tuesday said the infection rates were highest at Bluffton High School, Bluffton Middle School, Hilton Head Island High School and Hilton Head Island Middle School.
Countywide data
Here are the latest Beaufort County coronavirus numbers from DHEC:
New cases reported Wednesday: 50 confirmed, 4 probable
New cases reported Tuesday: 81 confirmed, 10 probable
New cases reported Monday: 73 confirmed, 14 probable
New cases reported Sunday: 115 confirmed, 35 probable
New cases reported Saturday: 142 confirmed, 49 probable
New deaths reported from Saturday to Wednesday: 8 confirmed, 4 probable
Seven-day average of new cases: 108 confirmed infections per day
Two-week incidence rate: 1,122 cases per 100,000 people
Note: Numbers in this story are current as of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 3:18 PM.
