Coronavirus cases in Chester County double; cases in Lancaster County approach 30
Lancaster County had its largest daily increase in new coronavirus cases reported Thursday and Chester County’s cases doubled, according to South Carolina health officials.
Nine cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, were confirmed in Lancaster County. Three cases were reported in Chester County, bringing its total to six, and no new cases were reported in York County, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
DHEC reported 261 new cases across the state, for a total of 1,554 cases in all 46 counties. DHEC also announced Thursday that five more people in the state died after contracting the virus. In all, there have been 31 deaths in South Carolina from the virus, one of which was a York County resident.
Now, there are 26 cases in Lancaster County and York County’s total remains 66 cases, according to DHEC.
Lancaster County Emergency Management Director Darren Player said he was concerned that the county had its largest single-day report of positive cases.
Player said the spike in cases there is likely because a backlog of tests that were done and determined by state health officials to be positive cases of COVID-19.
Shane Stuart, Chester County Supervisor, said he is concerned that Chester’s reported positive cases doubled in a single day. Testing backlog could be a reason, Stuart said.
Stuart, a former Chester County Sheriff’s Office deputy, remains upset that DHEC still refuses to release specific address and patient information of positive cases. That information is crucial to first responders and in a rural county, such as Chester, there is a finite number of both first responders and emergency equipment, he said.
One positive patient in Chester County sent county officials their address so that first responders would be aware and wear protective gear if anyone had to respond to the house, Stuart said.
“It’s discouraging that DHEC has a rule in place that will allow first responders the opportunity to wear proper protection against this virus before answering a call for service, and that they refuse to release that information,” Stuart said.
Chuck Haynes, York County Emergency Management Director, said that the statistics are not the only measure of a pandemic that continue to rise. Thursday’s report of zero new cases in York County — after 13 cases were reported in the county the day before — shows that coronavirus results are still coming in from DHEC labs and private labs.
Haynes said it was good to have a day with zero cases reported, but that information does not mean the county won’t see an increase in the coming weeks.
“The best guidance we can follow is what the people of York County have been doing, and that is social distancing, hygiene, and stay at home whenever possible,” Haynes said. “When people practice these measures, they are not just keeping themselves safe and their family safe. They are protecting their neighbors and anyone else. This is really what it means to be a good neighbor and community member at a time like this.”
As of Wednesday night, there were COVID-19 cases in the following York County ZIP codes:
- 29708
- 29710
- 29715
- 29730
- 29732
- 29745
Chester County’s six cases are in ZIP codes 29055, 29706, 29712 and 29714, according to DHEC. Twenty-five of Lancaster County’s cases are in ZIP codes 29058, 29067, 29707 and 29720.
