As COVID-19 surges in Europe, what’s the status of Beaufort County’s outbreak?
COVID-19 is surging again in Europe.
The World Health Organization reported Friday that 2 million coronavirus cases had been identified in Europe over the past week, setting a new record.
The continent’s recent spike should serve as a warning for the United States, some experts say, especially given America’s devastating wave of infections during the 2020 holiday season.
But as case counts soar in countries such as Germany and Russia, what’s happening in the Lowcountry?
Beaufort County still is enjoying a relative reprieve from COVID-19’s worst effects following a summer outbreak, which was driven by the super-contagious delta variant.
The county’s seven-day average of newly confirmed infections, as of Monday, was only four cases per day, according to an analysis of data from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
A month ago, that average was 19 cases per day. Two months ago, it was 83 cases per day.
Beaufort County’s COVID-19 positivity rate has dropped significantly since September, too. The rate, as of Saturday, was 2.2%. A month before that, it was 6.5%.
Last November, though, coronavirus trends also improved across Beaufort County in a similar fashion before then reversing course after Thanksgiving 2020.
And only 53.2% of the county’s population has been fully vaccinated, according to DHEC data updated Monday.
Regardless of prior infections, that likely means there’s thousands of residents still vulnerable to the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2.
So, despite the latest good news, DHEC already is casting a wary eye toward the winter.
Dr. Brannon Traxler, the state’s public health director, during an October briefing with reporters noted that infections had been dropping across South Carolina.
“We can’t rest on these successes,” though, Traxler said. “Numbers can fluctuate at any point for a number of reasons.”
Countywide data
Here are the latest Beaufort County coronavirus numbers from DHEC:
New cases reported Monday: 2 confirmed, 2 probable
New cases reported Sunday: 6 confirmed, 6 probable
New cases reported Saturday: 4 confirmed, 4 probable
New deaths reported from Monday to Saturday: 0 confirmed, 0 probable
Deaths reported in November: 3 confirmed, 2 probable
Seven-day average of new cases: 4 confirmed infections per day
Two-week incidence rate: 96.3 cases per 100,000 people
Vaccination rate: 53.2% of residents have been fully vaccinated
ZIP code data since July 1
Bluffton ZIP code, 29910: 2,824 cases
Hilton Head Island ZIP code, 29926: 1,095 cases
Hilton Head Island ZIP code, 29928: 451 cases
Okatie ZIP code, 29909: 761 cases
Beaufort ZIP code, 29902: 1,371 cases
St. Helena Island ZIP code, 29920: 430 cases
