496 new COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths last week in Beaufort County

New coronavirus cases increased 3.5% in South Carolina in the week ending Sunday as the state added 13,918 cases. The previous week had 13,446 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

South Carolina ranked 17th among the states where the coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 7.7% from the week before, with 862,778 cases reported.

With 1.55% of the country’s population, South Carolina had 1.61% of the country’s cases in the last week. Across the country, 23 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Beaufort County reported 496 cases and two deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 394 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 46,997 cases and 386 deaths.

Jasper County reported 59 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 50 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 6,310 cases and 93 deaths.

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Within South Carolina, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Marlboro County with 429 cases per 100,000 per week; Richland County with 412; and Colleton County with 411. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Richland County, with 1,711 cases; Greenville County, with 1,362 cases; and Lexington County, with 1,175. Weekly case counts rose in 30 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week’s pace were in Richland, Lexington and Greenville counties.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

â€‹ Across South Carolina, cases fell in 15 counties, with the best declines in Spartanburg County, with 562 cases from 887 a week earlier; in Cherokee County, with 44 cases from 167; and in Union County, with 15 cases from 98. â€‹

In South Carolina, â€‹ 77 â€‹ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 12 people were reported dead.

A total of 1,587,503 people in South Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 18,132 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 90,410,386 people have tested positive and 1,026,951 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

South Carolina’s COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, July 24. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Last week: 905
The week before that: 734
Four weeks ago: 616

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Last week: 75,961
The week before that: 70,927
Four weeks ago: 61,308

Hospitals in 33 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 33 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 38 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.