Columbus reports new COVID numbers, surge continues in Horry
By DEUCE NIVEN
tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com
COVID-19 cases continue their relentless rise in Columbus and Horry counties as a feared nationwide winter surge has materialized.
This post will cover these topics and may be updated:
- Columbus reports 90 new COVID cases since Monday
- Another 113 coronavirus cases for Horry in a day, 15 from Loris, GS areas
Columbus reports 90 new COVID cases since Monday
Another 90 Columbus County residents have been confirmed with COVID-19 since Monday, with 694 cases currently active, the Columbus County Health Department reported Thursday.
That brings the pandemic total of coronavirus cases for the county to 3,027, a health department news release said.
There have been no new COVID associated deaths, the pandemic total for Columbus at 74, the health department reported.
Cases involved with congregate care facilities, including nursing and assisted living homes, jails and prisons, are much lower, the health department reported, with just six of the newly confirmed cases associated with those facilities.
“There are currently sixteen Columbus County residents that are hospitalized due to COVID-19,” the health department reported. “There have been 2,259 COVID-19 recoveries in Columbus County.”
Nearly 39,000 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Columbus County since March, the health department reported.
Zip Code data, posted by the NC Department of Health and Human Resources and often lagging that from the county, showed three newly confirmed COVID cases in the Tabor City, Whiteville, and Chadbourn areas on Thursday along, four each in Lake Waccamaw and Hallsboro.
Current pandemic case/death totals for those Zip Codes are Tabor City, 941/22; Whiteville, 862/19; Chadbourn, 299/8; Lake Waccamaw, 100/6; Hallsboro, 180/7.
Three students in the Columbus County Schools have tested positive for the coronavirus this week, spokesman Kelly Jones said, including two at Tabor City Elementary, one at Williams Township School. No quarantines were required resulting from those case, Jones said.
North Carolina reported 5,556 new COVID infections Thursday, and 53 associated deaths, bringing those pandemic totals to 416,083 and 5,714 respectively.
Statewide 2,444 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus Thursday, up by 4 from the day before.
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.
Another 113 coronavirus cases for Horry in a day, 15 from Loris, GS areas
Horry County’s streak of days with more than 100 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases reached nine Thursday, data from South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control shows.
That surge has been reflected in the Loris area, DHEC’s Zip Code data showed, with a dozen new reported both Thursday and Friday, 24 in just two days. Another three cases were reported for the Green Sea area on Thursday.
There were no new deaths recorded for Horry County, the DHEC data showed, the total since the first coronavirus cases were seen last winter now 235.
Pandemic total cases, as of Thursday, are 14,901 confirmed for Horry, 814 in the Loris Zip Code, 91 for Green Sea.
South Carolina has recorded 225,053 COVID cases during the pandemic, 4,291 deaths, those numbers up by 1,883 and 12 respectively since Wednesday.
Statewide 1,232 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus Thursday, that number up by 15 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.
