COVID cases soaring in Horry, rising more slowly in Columbus
By DEUCE NIVEN
tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com
COVID-19 cases are soaring in Horry County, continuing to rise but at a slower rate in Columbus, state and local health agency reports indicated Monday.
This post will cover these topics and may be updated:
- Columbus reports 74th COVID death, 62 new infections
- Horry coronavirus cases soar, nearly 190 new Monday
Columbus reports 74th COVID death, 62 new infections
Columbus County’s 74th COVID-19 associated death since March and 62 new coronavirus cases confirmed since Thursday were reported by the Columbus County Health Department Monday.
That death appeared to be the same as a Tabor Correctional Institution inmate reported by the NC Department of Public Safety as succumbing to COVID-19 associated illness on Friday, though the health department did not explicitly say that in a news release.
With 62 newly confirmed COVID infections in the county, Columbus has recorded 2,937 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, the health department reported.
Impacts from congregate care facilities on the county’s COVID count, especially Tabor Correctional, appear to have eased with only 14 of the 62 newly confirmed cases “attributed to correctional facilities and long-term care facilities” in the county, the health department reported.
A dozen county residents are currently in the hospital with COVID-19, the health department reported.
Zip Code data from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, which is not always as current as the county numbers, indicated 58 newly confirmed COVID cases for Columbus since Thursday, including 15 in the Tabor City area, 23 from Whiteville.
No new cases were reported at Tabor Correctional or Columbus Correctional, the other state prison in the county, between Thursday and Monday, DPS data showed.
There were no new cases shown at the county’s congregate care facilities in a DHHS update Friday. Those numbers will not be updated again until Tuesday.
North Carolina reported 4,372 new COVID infections Monday, and 17 associated deaths, bringing those pandemic totals to 399,362 and 5,560 respectively.
Case totals Monday were down sharply from the weekend, when pandemic record new cases of 6,018 Saturday was topped by 6,438 Sunday, the DHHS data showed.
Statewide 2,240 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus Monday, another pandemic record, up by 49 from Sunday.
Free testing: Free drive-through COVID-19 rapid tests will be given at the Columbus County Health Department in Whiteville from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Friday.
Appointments are required, and may be made by calling 910-640-6615 extension 7006 or 7007.
Horry coronavirus cases soar, nearly 190 new Monday
A record number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases during the fall surge was reported for Horry County by South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control Monday.
A new coronavirus associated death coupled with 189 newly confirmed cases brought the pandemic total of COVID cases in Horry to 14,531 with 235 associated deaths.
New COVID cases for Horry have remained well above 100 since last Wednesday, with 160 Saturday eclipsed by Monday’s total.
Two other COVID-19 associated deaths for Horry were reported by DHEC Saturday, one middle-aged, the other elderly, both who died on Dec. 3.
An elderly individual who died on Dec. 1 was the county’s latest confirmed COVID death, revealed in Monday’s data.
Zip Code data showed 20 newly reported COVID cases in the Loris area since Thursday. Nine of those cases were reported Monday, with five cases reported for Green Sea since Thursday, two on Monday.
Pandemic total COVID cases for those Zip Codes are 785 for Loris, 86 for Green Sea.
South Carolina has recorded 218,820 COVID cases during the pandemic, 4,249 deaths, those numbers up by 2,413 and 12 respectively since Sunday.
Statewide 1,025 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus Monday, that number unchanged from 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.
