York County confirms 8 more positive for coronavirus, total cases exceed 270, DHEC says
For the second consecutive day, York County has reported eight new coronavirus cases, South Carolina health officials announced Thursday.
According to official state numbers, York County has had 272 COVID-19 cases confirmed since the pandemic began.
Lancaster County reported three new cases, for a total of 108, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Chester County, with 39 cases, has not reported any new cases since Friday, according to DHEC.
Officials from York, Chester and Lancaster counties said even as restaurants have opened, and more businesses will open next week, the public should continue to practice social distancing, good hygiene with frequent hand washing, and other safety measures.
York County Emergency Management Director Chuck Haynes said York County’s eight new cases show that people should continue to limit any unnecessary trips away from home and wear a mask when in public.
Lancaster County Emergency Management Director Darren Player said the pandemic is not over.
DHEC also identified 172 new cases of COVID-19 across the state Thursday, for a total of 8,189 cases in all 46 counties.
The agency announced that nine other individuals died across the state. Based on DHEC’s count, there now have been 371 coronavirus-related deaths in South Carolina.
Monday, York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said her office has confirmed eight residents died after testing positive for COVID-19. Also as of Thursday, DHEC has reported five coronavirus-related deaths in York County.
Lancaster County has reported five coronavirus-related deaths, and Chester County has not reported any deaths, according to DHEC.
Chester County Supervisor Shane Stuart said the safety practices that residents do while in public are important for personal health, but also help ensure the safety of others.
COVID-19 testing and projected cases
DHEC is planning to nearly double the amount of statewide testing in May, with a goal of testing 2% of the state’s population, or 110,000 people, in each of the next two months, agency officials said.
As of Thursday, labs across the state have completed more than 102,535 tests and in all, about 9% of tests have come back positive. DHEC projected last week that about 81% of those diagnosed with the virus have recovered.
Hospitals across the state are at about 68% capacity. Thursday, DHEC officials said, of the 7,077 beds currently used across the state, 443 beds are occupied by patients with known or suspected cases of the virus.
Based on new DHEC projections, about 1,000 new coronavirus cases are anticipated this week. By May 23, DHEC officials expect a total of 9,652 cases reported in the state.
DHEC calculated that there are up to 1,671 unidentified cases in York County based on projections released Thursday. The agency estimated Lancaster County has as many as 663 unidentified cases, and Chester County has up to 240 unidentified cases.
According to its website, DHEC calculates the projected cases based on evidence that for every known case, there could be up to nine unidentified people with the virus.
Confirmed cases by ZIP code
As of Wednesday night, there are cases in the following York County ZIP codes:
- 29704 - 2
- 29708 - 28
- 29710 - 37
- 29715 - 38
- 29717 - 2
- 29730 - 58
- 29732 - 82
- 29745 - 17
There are cases in the following Lancaster County ZIP codes:
- 29058 - 4
- 29067 - 12
- 29707 - 25
- 29720 - 73
There are cases in the following Chester County ZIP codes:
- 29014 - 2
- 29055 - 5
- 29706 - 19
- 29712 - 1
- 29714 - 7
