York and Chester counties each test more than 300 for coronavirus as case counts jump
As York and Chester counties have opened free coronavirus testing sites, the number of confirmed cases of the virus in the counties have jumped, official state numbers show.
A few days after York County tested more than 300 people at its testing site last week, the county reported 10 new confirmed cases Wednesday, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. The county now has had 363 COVID-19 cases reported since the pandemic started, according to DHEC.
Chuck Haynes, York County Emergency Management Director, said the 10 new cases likely are the result of increased local testing in recent days.
“We look at trends and do not see this as an upward trajectory for York County in positive cases,” Haynes said.
Haynes added that residents should continue to wear a mask in public, practice social distancing and other hygiene measures as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Chester County opened its free coronavirus testing site Wednesday, and four new cases were reported in the county, according to DHEC. The county now has had 59 coronavirus cases confirmed since the pandemic started.
Angela Douglas, Chester City Council member, said the number of cases in the county is expected to increase as more people are able to get tested at the free site, which is at the Back Lot at 139 Cadz Street.
“The positive cases have jumped to the mid-fifties now,” Douglas said. “And it seems like it has been taking Chester some time to get that. But unless you felt sick, or unless there was some other reason you needed to be tested, we didn’t have tests done.”
Douglas said about 300 people had been tested Wednesday at the drive-thru site, which is being administered by the Medical University of South Carolina.
“We weren’t having any active testing, mass testing done in Chester,” she said. “So, we don’t know what our numbers are. It’s imperative that we have those numbers to know what we’re dealing with.”
The site, which will be open Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and again on June 3 and 5, does not require an appointment, Douglas said. Also, people do not have to be residents of Chester County to be tested, Douglas said.
“You do not have to be symptomatic,” she said. “You can be asymptomatic. We want everybody tested. We do want to encourage people not to think twice about it.”
In addition to the county-level cases, DHEC also identified 206 new cases of COVID-19 across the state Wednesday, for a total of 10,623 cases in all 46 counties. Lancaster County added two new case, for a total of 124 coronavirus cases, according to DHEC.
COVID-19 deaths
DHEC also announced that 20 more individuals have died across the state, which is the largest number of people who died in one day. Based on the agency’s count, there now have been 466 coronavirus-related deaths in South Carolina.
Lancaster County has reported five coronavirus-related deaths, and Chester County has not reported any deaths, according to DHEC.
As of Wednesday, DHEC has reported six coronavirus-related deaths in York County. However, York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said her office has confirmed eight residents died after testing positive for COVID-19.
All eight residents who died from complications after testing positive for COVID-19 were older and had other health ailments, Gast said.
Coronavirus testing
As of Wednesday, labs across the state have completed more than 181,154 tests, and in all about 6% of tests have come back positive.
DHEC has been working to expand statewide coronavirus testing in both May and June. State health officials are attempting to test about 2% of the state’s population, or 110,000 people, in the next two months. DHEC officials said Tuesday the agency has reached that goal, completing more than 110,000 tests in May.
Testing on a local level has increased as well.
Western York County’s free coronavirus testing site at Clinton Chapel AME Zion Church will be open every Friday for the next four weeks, Seth Duncan, York city manager, said. Testing is available at the church at 302 California Street in York from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. No appointment or referral is needed, Duncan said.
Chester County will opened its free coronavirus testing site Wednesday, officials said. Testing, which is being administered by MUSC, will be done at the Back Lot at 139 Cadz Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 29, and again on June 3 and 5, officials said. People will receive test results within 72 hours, Douglas said.
Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill also does COVID-19 testing. Affinity Health Care in Rock Hill offers drive-thru testing. North Central Family Medical Center in Rock Hill tests symptomatic patients and is planning to offer drive-thru testing by appointment.
Case projections
This week, DHEC officials have anticipated more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases. Based on DHEC projections, the weekly number of cases will climb to about 1,300 by the beginning of June and officials expect a total of 12,744 cases reported in the state by that time.
DHEC officials have estimated that as many as 86% of people who have contracted COVID-19 have not been tested or diagnosed.
The agency calculated that there are up to 2,230 unidentified cases in York County based on projections released Wednesday. The agency estimated Lancaster County has as many as 762 unidentified cases, and Chester County has up to 362 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.
Coronavirus cases by ZIP code
As of Tuesday night, there are cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
- 29704 - 4
- 29708 - 40
- 29710 - 46
- 29715 - 48
- 29717 - 2
- 29730 - 70
- 29732 - 120
- 29745 - 23
Lancaster County
- 29058 - 5
- 29067 - 12
- 29707 - 29
- 29720 - 88
Chester County
- 29014 - 3
- 29055 - 18
- 29706 - 21
- 29712 - 3
- 29714 - 9
