Three more COVID deaths in Horry, new demographic info for CC

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     Females have been hit harder by COVID-19 in Columbus County than men, data released Thursday by the Columbus County Health Department shows.

     Both Columbus and Horry reported 36 newly confirmed coronavirus infections on Thursday, though with vastly different time frames, as Horry recorded another three confirmed COVID deaths, local and state data shows.

     This post will cover these topics and may be updated:

• Columbus reports another 36 COVID cases, demographic data
• Three more deaths, 36 new cases in Horry

Columbus reports another 36 COVID cases, demographic data

     Gender, more than age or race, seems the most significant factor relating to COVID-19 infections, and especially related deaths, demographic data released by the Columbus County Health Department Thursday indicated.

     Another 36 county residents have been confirmed as infected with the coronavirus since the department’s last report on Monday, bringing the pandemic total for the county to 1,024, a news release from the agency said.

     State Department of Health and Human Services data Wednesday first indicated that the county had topped 1,000 first cases. Its data often lags behind that from the county, and that was the case Thursday with the DHHS documenting 1,013 cases for the county.

     Five additional COVID cases were confirmed after the county issued its report Monday, “twelve new cases on August 18, twelve new cases on August 19, and seven new cases on August 20,” the news release said.

     “There have been 828 COVID-19 recoveries in Columbus County,” the department reported. “There are approximately 146 active COVID-19 cases in Columbus County.”

     There were no new deaths listed in the latest report, that pandemic total for the county is 50.

     Demographic data: There were 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county, and 50 deaths on Aug. 18, with the demographic information based on those numbers.

     Females have been infected with the coronavirus, and died as a result at a significantly higher rate than men, accounting for 66 percent of the deaths, 55.9 percent of the confirmed cases.

     Age has proven a more significant factor in mortality than infection, the data seemed to show, with 64 percent of the COVID deaths involving those 65 and older, 22 percent from 55 to 64, and 12 percent from 45 to 54. A single death in the 25 to 34 year age group represented two percent of the 50 deaths, the data showed.

     Cases were more evenly distributed among all the age groups, with 163 of the 1,000 cases aged 65 and older, the numbers generally smaller in each age category, with 106 cases involving those from birth to 17 the smallest number.

     Race, in contrast with earlier trends that indicated the Black community with a statistically greater impact from COVID, seemed less a factor in the latest data.

     COVID deaths among whites were 52 percent of the county total, coronavirus cases just more than 50 percent. COVID deaths among Black residents, at 42 percent of the total, remained higher than the percentage of Black people living in the county, but to a lesser extent than earlier.

     COVID cases involving Black residents were a little more than 37 percent, closer to the actual ration of that population in Columbus.

     Zip Code data from the daily DHHS online totals were up by three in the Tabor City area, the most of any section of the county. That brings Tabor City’s pandemic total to 241 confirmed cases and 15 related deaths.

     North Carolina reported 1,972 new COVID infections and 34 related deaths Thursday, the pandemic total now 149,904 and 2,465 respectively.

     Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 were up by 22 Thursday, the total now 1,023.

Three more deaths, 36 new cases in Horry

     Three more Horry County residents have been claimed by COVID-19, all elderly, South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control data showed Thursday.

     Zip Code data showed two of those cases from the Loris area.

     Pandemic totals for the county now include 165 deaths, 8,955 confirmed infections, including 525 in the Loris Zip Code, 35 for Green Sea.

     Statewide South Carolina reported 896 new COVID cases and 42 new deaths Thursday, the pandemic totals now 108,274 and 2,289 respectively.

     There were 1,108 COVID patients being treated in South Carolina hospitals Thursday, that number down by 60 from Wednesday.

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.