Lancaster County adds 3 new coronavirus cases as total exceeds 50, DHEC says
The number of coronavirus cases in Lancaster County has now topped 50, and cases in York County continue to climb, South Carolina health officials announced Thursday.
Five new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, were confirmed in York County. Three cases were reported in Lancaster County, pushing the total to 51, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. No new cases were reported in Chester County.
DHEC reported 241 new cases across the state, for a total of 2,792 cases in all 46 counties. Now, there are 120 confirmed cases in York County and Chester County has 16 cases, according to DHEC.
The department also announced Thursday that four more people in the state died after contracting the virus. There have been a total of 67 coronavirus-related deaths in South Carolina, two of whom were York County residents.
Darren Player, Lancaster County Emergency Management Director, said although the new cases put the county over 50 since the pandemic started, 10 of those cases have dropped off current watch lists as those patients have recovered.
Lancaster County has not had any reported deaths from COVID-19, Player said.
“We have had a number of recoveries, so that is very good news,” Player said. “We are very happy about that.”
State epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said at a press conference Monday that over the last week, the department has seen an accelerated rate of new infections in South Carolina.
“An average of 187 new infections per day have been reported in the past week,” she said. “That is an increase from an average of 90 new infections per day being reported in the week prior.”
More than 27,000 coronavirus tests have been completed by DHEC’s public lab and private labs in the state, so roughly 10% of tests have come back positive, according to the department. Bell said Monday while the state’s public health laboratory does not have a delay in testing, private labs have “significant delays,” which indicates that there are many cases yet to be reported.
Based on new estimates, DHEC calculated that there are 747 unidentified cases in York County, which means nearly 86% of the county’s cases are unreported. The department estimated Lancaster County has 322 unidentified cases and Chester County has 107 unidentified cases.
About 86% of Lancaster County’s cases are unreported and nearly 87% of Chester County’s cases are unreported, according to the estimates.
According to its website, DHEC calculated the number of estimated cases based on evidence that for every known case, there could be up to nine unidentified people with the virus.
Confirmed cases by ZIP codes
As of Wednesday night, there are cases in the following York County ZIP codes:
- 29704 - 1
- 29708 - 14
- 29710 - 19
- 29715 - 23
- 29717 - 1
- 29730 - 22
- 29732 - 33
- 29745 - 6
- Unknown - 1
There are cases in the following Lancaster County ZIP codes:
- 29058 - 3
- 29067 - 2
- 29707 - 16
- 29720 - 30
There are cases in the following Chester County ZIP codes:
- 29014 - 1
- 29055 - 3
- 29706 - 7
- 29712 - 1
- 29714 - 4
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 4:49 PM.
