<strong>From staff reports</strong>

Beginning Friday, Sep. 4, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) began providing a school report that includes for every school both cumulative and rolling 30-day counts of confirmed COVID-19 cases among students, teachers and faculty members. The data will be updated on Tuesday and Friday afternoons.

As of Tuesday, Sept. 8, two schools in Beaufort County had reported cases of among students.

Lowcountry Montessori and May River High School have each reported less than five positive cases.

Beaufort County School District began virtual learning Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Beaufort Academy, which began in-person learning on August 12, has reported no positive cases, according to DHEC.

There were no cases reported among faculty.

John Paul II and St. Peter’s Catholic are not listed in the report. Neither are the Department of Defense Education Activties (DoDEA) schools at Laurel Bay.

<strong>DHEC clarifies CDC data</strong>

On Thursday, Sept. 3, DHEC attempted to clarify misunderstanding around newly released data from the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention Control (CDC) regarding deaths associated with COVID-19.

Provisional death data updated by the CDC last week shows that for six percent of COVID-19 deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause of death mentioned. The remaining 94 percent of deaths were among people with other underlying or contributing conditions but COVID-19 was still a factor in the deaths.

Cause of death, as listed on a death certificate, includes an immediate cause, intermediate causes, underlying cause, and contributing conditions.

A common example of cause of death involving COVID-19 would have acute respiratory distress syndrome as the immediate cause of death, which is the ultimate condition that caused the death. The intermediate cause of death would have been pneumonia, with COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death. The underlying cause of death is the condition that leads, via intermediate causes, to the immediate cause of death.

Contributing factors could have been asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, or any other illness or condition that may have made the condition that was the cause of death worse than it would have been.

This is not new information. It’s been understood for quite some time that individuals with certain underlying conditions are at greater risk for severe illness and death, which is why DHEC provides underlying health conditions data, also called comorbidity information, for COVID-19-associated deaths on its county-level dashboard, under the “Deaths” data section.

<b>THE LAST WEEK<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></b>

<b>Monday, Sept. 7</b>

<b>New S.C. Cases: </b>590

<b>S.C. deaths: </b>19

<b>New Beaufort Co. Cases: </b>13

<b>Beaufort Co. deaths: </b>1

<b>Percent Positive: </b>11.2

<b>Sunday, Sept. 6</b>

<b>New S.C. Cases: </b>603

<b>S.C. deaths: </b>10

<b>New Beaufort Co. Cases: </b>43

<b>Beaufort Co. deaths: </b>0

<b>Percent Positive: </b>12.6

<b>Saturday, Sept. 5</b>

<b>New S.C. Cases: </b>918

<b>S.C. deaths: </b>32

<b>New Beaufort Co. Cases: </b>38

<b>Beaufort Co. deaths: </b>0

<b>Percent Positive: </b>12.7

<b>Friday, Sept. 4</b>

<b>New S.C. Cases: </b>1,511

<b>S.C. deaths: </b>37

<b>New Beaufort Co. Cases: </b>37

<b>Beaufort Co. deaths: </b>2

<b>Percent Positive: </b>18.3

<b>Thursday, Sept. 3</b>

<b>New S.C. Cases: </b>1,084

<b>S.C. deaths: </b>12

<b>New Beaufort Co. Cases: </b>38

<b>Beaufort Co. deaths: </b>0

<b>Percent Positive: </b>16.5

<b>Wednesday, Sept. 2</b>

<b>New S.C. Cases: </b>601

<b>S.C. deaths: </b>26

<b>New Beaufort Co. Cases: </b>18

<b>Beaufort Co. deaths: </b>1

<b>Percent Positive: </b>19.6

<b>Tuesday, Sept. 1</b>

<b>New S.C. Cases: </b>761

<b>S.C. deaths: </b>37

<b>New Beaufort Co. Cases: </b>30

<b>Beaufort Co. deaths: </b>1

<b>Percent Positive: </b>22.4

<b>THE NUMBERS<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></b>

From S.C. DHEC

<b>Totals</b>

As of Monday, Sept. 7

<b>S.C. confirmed cases: </b>123,552

<b>S.C. probable cases: </b>2,055

<b>S.C. confirmed deaths: </b>2,767

<b>S.C. probable deaths: </b>140

<b>Beaufort County cases: </b>4,949

<b>Beaufort County deaths: </b>69

<b>THE AVERAGES</b>

<b>Last week’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>866.9

<b>Previous week’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>782.7

<b>Two weeks ago’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>755.6

<b>Three weeks ago’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>790.9

<b>Four weeks ago’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>1074.4

<b>Five weeks ago’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>1,418.1

<b>Six weeks ago’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>1,449.6

<b>Seven weeks ago’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>1,860.2

<b>Eight weeks ago’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>1,663.1

<b>Nine weeks ago’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>1,604.1

<b>10 weeks ago’s 7-day avg. new cases, state: </b>1,263.6

<b>Last week’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>31.0

<b>Previous week’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>23.1

<b>Two weeks ago’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>29.0

<b>Three weeks ago’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>35.7

<b>Four weeks ago’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>65.4

<b>Five weeks ago’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>83.3

S<b>ix weeks ago’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>83.9

<b>Seven weeks ago’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>72.4

<b>Eight weeks ago’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>72.6

<b>Nine weeks ago’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>52.4

<b>10 weeks ago’s 7-day average new cases, county: </b>38.9