Beaufort County shatters single-day COVID-19 case record as omicron surges

More than a year after COVID-19 vaccines were first rolled out, Beaufort County on Friday logged a record-breaking number of newly confirmed coronavirus infections as the omicron variant continued to pummel South Carolina.

The county reported 290 confirmed cases Friday. There also were 64 probable infections, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The health agency does not publicly break down county-level case data by vaccination status.

Beaufort County’s previous single-day high was 235 confirmed cases on Aug. 20, 2021 — the peak of last summer’s delta variant surge.

Before Friday’s record case count, the county had logged over 200 confirmed infections on only three separate dates: Aug. 20, 2021 (235 cases); Aug. 13, 2021 (231 cases); and Jan. 8, 2021 (227 cases).

The Lowcountry’s latest surge is driven by omicron, health leaders say. The super contagious variant was discovered in South Africa late last year. It has quickly overtaken delta in the United States and now accounts for roughly 95% of new infections in the country, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Omicron has led to a record-breaking number of new COVID-19 cases in South Carolina in recent days. More than 9,300 confirmed infections were reported statewide Friday.

There is some good news. In interviews Tuesday and Wednesday, local health care leaders said that anecdotally, omicron seems to produce milder disease than delta.

The variant is stressing Beaufort County’s pandemic-weary hospital systems, but not in the way that you might expect.

As one physician put it: “This is completely different than what we’ve ever seen before.”

While cases are surging, and residents are swamping emergency rooms and outpatient clinics, inpatient bed capacity has not been hit hard. At least so far.

“From an outpatient perspective, this is the worst it’s been,” said Russell Baxley, CEO of Beaufort Memorial Hospital, in a Tuesday interview. “From an inpatient perspective, right now we’re doing OK.”

Baxley said that most of omicron’s symptoms seem to mirror those caused by previous coronavirus variants, but anecdotally, the pathogen now appears to stay “mostly in the upper respiratory tract. It doesn’t seem to affect the lungs as much.”

“I think that’s why we’re not seeing the severe cases that we saw with delta,” Baxley said.

Beaufort Memorial Hospital, as of early Tuesday, was treating only 15 coronavirus inpatients. One of those people was in the intensive care unit, Baxley said.

Hilton Head Regional Healthcare, as of early Wednesday, was treating 12 coronavirus inpatients, with three of those people in ICU beds, according to a spokeswoman for Hilton Head and Coastal Carolina hospitals.

(Some health experts fear that omicron will still overwhelm hospitals with a deluge of inpatients, simply because of the sheer number of cases that it generates.)

Countywide data

Here are the latest Beaufort County coronavirus numbers from DHEC:

New cases reported Friday: 290 confirmed, 64 probable

New cases reported Thursday: 193 confirmed, 144 probable

New cases reported Wednesday: 24 confirmed, 90 probable

New deaths reported from Wednesday to Friday: 0 confirmed, 0 probable

Seven-day average of new cases: 148 confirmed infections per day

Two-week case rate: 1,237 cases per 100,000 people

Vaccination rate: 56.1% of residents have “completed vaccination”

ZIP code data since Dec. 15

Bluffton ZIP code, 29910: 676 cases

Hilton Head Island ZIP code, 29926: 245 cases

Hilton Head Island ZIP code, 29928: 209 cases

Okatie ZIP code, 29909: 217 cases

Beaufort ZIP code, 29902: 363 cases

St. Helena Island ZIP code, 29920: 141 cases

Jasper County numbers

Jasper County logged 17 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases Friday and eight probable infections. No new deaths were announced in the county.

Data in this story are current as of 12:30 p.m. Friday.

This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 1:16 PM.

Sam Ogozalek

The Island Packet

843-900-6372

Sam Ogozalek is a reporter at The Island Packet covering COVID-19 recovery efforts. He also is a Report for America corps member. He recently graduated from Syracuse University and has written for the Tampa Bay Times, The Buffalo News and the Naples Daily News.