Horry surges with nearly 400 new COVID cases, two deaths in two days; slow rise in Columbus cases

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     Horry County, including the Grand Strand, remains a hot spot for COVID-19 cases with nearly 400 new coronavirus cases confirmed since Saturday and two additional deaths.

     Across the state line in Columbus County the pandemic’s pace has slowed, but not halted, with 17 newly confirmed cases and no new deaths since Thursday.

This post will cover these topics and may be updated:

Horry records 2 new COVID deaths, nearly 400 new cases in two days

     Horry County has recorded nearly 400 new COVID-19 cases since a one-day 358 case total on July 4 shattered previous pandemic records for the area.

     Two more Horry residents have succumbed to the disease in the past two days, daily data from South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control show.

     Both of the Horry deaths, reported Sunday and Monday, were middle aged residents of the county.

     Horry’s pandemic case totals rose from 4,321 Saturday to 4,480 Sunday and 4,715 Monday, an increase of 394, though daily case confirmation totals reported by DHEC showed that total at 347. The biggest discrepancy came with Monday’s DHEC totals, the math suggesting 235 new cases, the agency reporting 189 newly confirmed cases for Horry.

     Zip Code data showed the Loris area with nine newly confirmed cases Sunday, eight more. With 17 new cases since Saturday, the pandemic total for the Loris area has reached 289.

     A single newly confirmed case for the Green Sea Zip Code Monday brought that total to 19.

     Statewide South Carolina has recorded 46,247 COVID confirmed cases since the pandemic began, an increase of 1,505 from Sunday, with 819 people across the state who have died of the disease, 6 more than Sunday.

     A total of 1,260 Palmetto State residents were reported hospitalized for coronavirus complications Monday, 9 more than the day before, an increase of 70 from Saturday.

Columbus reports 17 new coronavirus cases since Thursday

     Another 17 Columbus County residents have received positive COVID-19 test results, the Columbus County Health Department reported in its twice-weekly coronavirus report Monday.

     That brings to 562 the pandemic total of confirmed cases in the county, the health department reported, three fewer than 565 shown on the NC Department of Health & Human online dashboard Monday.

     That discrepancy is likely because some test results initially assigned to Columbus County have been reassigned to other counties following a verification process, Columbus Health Director Kim Smith said.

     DHHS data often lags behind that at the county level.

     CC Health Dept. data shows two additional cases from July 2, the last of its twice-weekly reports, three new cases on July 3, one July 4, six July 5, and five on July 6.

     “There are currently four Columbus County residents that are hospitalized due to COVID-19,” the health department reported.

     There were no new COVID related deaths in the latest report, the pandemic total at 39.

     Zip Code data: DHHS daily data includes Zip Code specific information, the latest showing the Tabor City area with three new COVID-19 cases, Whiteville with four more, those totals now 130 and 157 respectively.

     Clarendon and Hallsboro Zip Codes each recorded a single new case, their totals 16 and 48 respectively, the DHHS data showed Monday.

     Statewide: North Carolina’s pandemic total of COVID cases reached 74,529 Monday, up by 1,546 from Sunday, with 1,398 people claimed by the virus, that up by 2 from the day before.

     DHHS data showed 982 of the state’s residents currently hospitalized with the coronavirus, 33 more than Sunday.

Updates

     Look for continuing coverage on local impacts from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak here and in the Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.