5 new cases of coronavirus in York County, while Lancaster and Chester report 0 cases
Five more cases of coronavirus were reported in York County Tuesday, South Carolina health officials announced.
The county now has had 308 COVID-19 cases confirmed since the pandemic started, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
For the second consecutive day, Lancaster and Chester counties did not report any new cases, according to DHEC. Since the pandemic began, Lancaster County has had 108 coronavirus cases reported and Chester County has had 41 cases.
The agency also identified 137 new cases of COVID-19 across the state Tuesday, for a total of 9,056 cases in all 46 counties.
Hospitals across the state are at about 68% capacity. Tuesday, DHEC officials said, of the 7,046 beds currently used across the state, 444 beds are occupied by patients with known or suspected cases of the virus.
DHEC also announced that eight more individuals have died across the state. Based on the agency’s count, there now have been 399 coronavirus-related deaths in South Carolina.
York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said her office has confirmed eight residents died after testing positive for COVID-19. As of Tuesday, DHEC had 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.
COVID-19 Testing
As of Tuesday, labs across the state have completed more than 135,063 tests, and in all about 7% of tests have come back positive. Friday, DHEC projected that about 84% of those diagnosed with the virus have recovered.
DHEC is working to nearly double the amount of statewide testing in May, by testing 2% of the state’s population, or 110,000 people, in each of the next two months, agency officials said. So far, about 1.7% of the population has been tested.
Chester County will offer its first free coronavirus testing site for residents, officials said.
Testing will be done at the Back Lot at 139 Cadz Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 27 and 29, and again on June 3 and 5, according to a statement from the Medical University of South Carolina.
Western York County will open its first on-site coronavirus testing site Friday at Clinton Chapel AME Zion Church, officials said.
Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill also does COVID-19 testing. Affinity Health Care in Rock Hill offers drive-through testing. North Central Family Medical Center in Rock Hill tests symptomatic patients and is planning to offer drive-through testing by appointment.
Case projections
This week, DHEC officials have anticipated about 1,000 new coronavirus cases. Based on DHEC projections, the weekly number of cases will likely drop to about 900 by the end of May and officials expect a total of 10,493 cases reported in the state by that time.
DHEC calculated that there are up to 1,892 unidentified cases in York County based on projections released Tuesday The agency estimated Lancaster County has as many as 663 unidentified cases, and Chester County has up to 252 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.
Lancaster reopening
Lancaster County announced Tuesday that it will begin the second phase of reopening on May 26.
The county began its first phase with library and animal shelter openings May 11. Phase two will open county offices, the libraries and animal shelter on full schedule, some county board meetings and some recreation amenities.
Coronavirus cases by ZIP code
As of Monday night, there are cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
- 29704 - 2
- 29708 - 30
- 29710 - 42
- 29715 - 39
- 29717 - 2
- 29730 - 65
- 29732 - 103
- 29745 - 18
Lancaster County
- 29058 - 4
- 29067 - 12
- 29707 - 28
- 29720 - 73
Chester County
- 29014 - 2
- 29055 - 7
- 29706 - 19
- 29712 - 1
- 29714 - 7
