Fully vaccinated Beaufort Co. residents should now wear masks indoors, CDC warns. Why?

Sam Ogozalek
·3 min read

Federal health officials say that fully vaccinated residents in Beaufort County should mask up in indoor public places.

Again.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of early Thursday, had redesignated the Lowcountry county as having a “substantial” level of coronavirus transmission, CDC data show.

The county had a “moderate” level of COVID-19 spread on Tuesday, which is when the CDC said it was safe for fully inoculated people to not wear face coverings in indoor settings like grocery stores and restaurants.

The government’s guidance for unvaccinated residents, meanwhile, has remained the same: Wear masks inside when in public.

The CDC news is disappointing for the Lowcountry, which as of late last week was one of only a couple regions in the United States that seemed to be faring well with coronavirus transmission.

South Georgia, almost all of Florida, parts of Mississippi and East Texas are now among the few spots in America where COVID-19 spread remains moderate. The South was hit hard by this past summer’s coronavirus surge, which was driven by the super-contagious delta variant.

The recent change in federal mask guidance for the Lowcountry, though, is not necessarily surprising.

Almost 75% of all U.S. counties, as of early Thursday, had “high” levels of coronavirus transmission, CDC data show. States in the Upper Midwest and Northeast are again facing spikes in infections as colder weather sets in. And South Carolina’s case numbers are starting to rise, too.

Dr. Brannon Traxler, the state’s director of public health, told reporters Wednesday that after recording a consistent drop in COVID-19 spread between early September and mid-November, cases “ticked up” in South Carolina last week, with more than 5,100 new infections reported statewide.

“I don’t want to hit the panic button,” Traxler said, “but we are strongly encouraging all South Carolinians to continue the safety protocols that helped us drive these numbers down.”

“This is especially important as millions of us around the state and hundreds of millions more across our nation gather with friends and family the next couple of days to celebrate Thanksgiving,” she said.

The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette have compiled a guide to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s sweeping set of new coronavirus safety recommendations for the 2021 holiday season: bit.ly/HolidaySafetyGuidance

Countywide data

Here are the latest Beaufort County coronavirus numbers from DHEC:

New cases reported Wednesday: 7 confirmed, 7 probable

New cases reported Tuesday: 4 confirmed, 1 probable

New cases reported Monday: 14 confirmed, 5 probable

New deaths reported from Monday to Wednesday: 2 confirmed, 0 probable

Seven-day case average: 11 confirmed infections per day

Two-week case rate: 99.4 cases per 100,000 people

Vaccination rate: 53.7% of residents have been fully vaccinated

The gymnasium of Battery Creek High School was turned into a vaccination center on Thursday, March 11, 2021 for employees with the Beaufort County School District to receive their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Beaufort Memorial Hospital would be at the high school for roughly five hours to vaccinate employees in the school district.

ZIP code data since July 1

Bluffton ZIP code, 29910: 2,844 cases

Hilton Head Island ZIP code, 29926: 1,105 cases

Hilton Head Island ZIP code, 29928: 459 cases

Okatie ZIP code, 29909: 772 cases

Beaufort ZIP code, 29902: 1,415 cases

St. Helena Island ZIP code, 29920: 446 cases