DHEC update Saturday: Coronavirus cases in Horry County, Myrtle Beach spike
The number of confirmed coronavirus, or COVID-19, cases has risen to 63 in Horry County, health officials say.
S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control released the latest numbers on the virus Saturday afternoon.
Cases across South Carolina have reached 1,917 with 217 new cases announced Saturday, according to DHEC. There have been 40 deaths across the state because of COVID-19. As of Thursday, each county in the state has confirmed cases.
The most recent data indicates Horry County saw an increase of 12 positive cases in the last 24 hours. Horry County’s first case of the virus was confirmed March 14.
Horry County has had four deaths from coronavirus, including an 83-year-old man who died at Conway Medical Center earlier this week.
Georgetown County has one new case for a total of 17 and reported its first coronavirus death Saturday. There were six new deaths in the state announced Saturday, all being elderly with additional underlying health conditions, according to DHEC.
North Carolina health officials said at 11 a.m. Saturday that there are 2,402 confirmed COVID-19 cases in 88 counties of the state, up over 300 from Friday. There are 24 reported deaths and 271 cases are being hospitalized.
In Brunswick County, there are 23 cases with no deaths reported.
As of Friday, DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory has conducted 7,017 tests for COVID-19, including 806 that were positive. A total of 18,314 tests by both DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory and private labs have been conducted in the state. The current time frame for providing results to health care providers is 24-48 hours.
DHEC reports that 5,807 hospital beds are available and 6,362 are utilized as of Friday, which is a 51.9-percent statewide hospital bed utilization rate. There has been a 6.4-percent decrease in hospital bed utilization since March 23.
Anyone concerned about their health should contact their healthcare provider. For telehealth options and the latest information about DHEC’s COVID-19 response efforts, visit scdhec.gov/COVID-19. Visit scdmh.net for mental health resources from the S.C. Department of Mental Health.
This story was originally published April 4, 2020 at 3:59 PM.
