Coronavirus latest: Lancaster reports 2nd spike this week, more deaths confirmed
Lancaster County reported another spike in COVID-19 cases and a coronavirus-related death Wednesday, South Carolina health officials announced.
The county added 15 cases, for a total of 180 cases, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
DHEC identified 235 new cases of COVID-19 across the state Wednesday. There have now been a total of 12,651 cases reported in South Carolina.
DHEC reported five COVID-19 cases in Chester County, for a total of 93 cases. The county opened its first free coronavirus testing site last week, and has seen a jump in positive cases as a result, county officials said.
York County added three new cases, according to DHEC. The county now has had 426 cases confirmed since the pandemic started, according to DHEC.
Also Wednesday, officials confirmed an employee at a Fort Mill YMCA branch tested positive for COVID-19, and the facility closed Monday after the positive test. The center was deep cleaned by a private company and reopened Wednesday.
Spikes in Lancaster County
Lancaster County has added 42 coronavirus cases in two days. The county, which reported 27 cases the day before, has been adding cases in the single digits each day in prior weeks.
However, county officials have not identified a specific cause of the spikes.
“DHEC is not sharing detailed information with local officials,” Willis said. “We will obviously be watching the reported numbers the rest of the week, but this is certainly alarming news. We encourage residents to continue wearing masks and practicing social distancing.”
On May 31, Lancaster Health & Rehabilitation officials said on its website the facility has confirmed 27 positive cases after all staff and residents were tested. Lancaster County Emergency Management Director Darren Player said the county’s recent spike in cases could be related to the nursing center’s reported cases.
“Part of that 27 case spike probably can be attributed to the center,” Player said. “But with additional cases Wednesday, we can’t be sure.”
COVID-19 deaths
Wednesday, DHEC also reported an elderly individual in Lancaster County and two in York County died as a result of the virus.
Lancaster County now has had six coronavirus-related deaths, according to county Coroner Karla Knight Deese and DHEC.
Tuesday, York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said in a press release that two patients from the Rock Hill area died because of the virus over the weekend. The two patients were being treated at a local hospital, Gast said.
DHEC and Gast have confirmed 10 York County residents have died after testing positive for COVID-19.
DHEC announced Wednesday a total of 17 individuals across the state died as a result of the virus. Based on DHEC’s count, there now have been 518 coronavirus-related deaths in South Carolina.
Testing
As of Wednesday, labs across the state have completed more than 230,687 tests, and in all, about 6% of tests have come back positive.
Chester County will continue its free testing this week. The site, which is being administered by MUSC, is at the Back Lot at 139 Cadz Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on June 5, officials said. No appointment is required and people will receive test results within 72 hours, Chester City Council member Angela Douglas said.
Piedmont Medical Center, in partnership with DHEC, is offering free drive-thru COVID-19 testing Friday, according to a release from the hospital. The site is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and no appointment is required, the release said. Each car is limited to two tests.
Case projections
DHEC officials have anticipated about 1,500 new coronavirus cases reported across the state this week. Based on projections, the weekly number of cases will climb to about 1,700 in the middle of June, and officials expect a total of 16,913 cases to be 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, and DHEC estimated that about 89,360 people have had the virus across the state.
The agency calculated that there are up to 2,617 unidentified cases in York County based on projections released Wednesday. The agency estimated Lancaster County has as many as 1,106 unidentified cases, and Chester County has up to 571 unidentified cases.
Hospitals across the state are at about 71% capacity. Wednesday, DHEC officials said, of the 7,340 beds currently used across the state, 433 beds are occupied by coronavirus patients or those who are suspected of having it.
Coronavirus cases by ZIP code
As of Tuesday night, there are cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
- 29704 - 4
- 29708 - 47
- 29710 - 52
- 29715 - 52
- 29717 - 3
- 29730 - 90
- 29732 - 131
- 29745 - 32
Lancaster County
- 29058 - 7
- 29067 - 15
- 29707 - 34
- 29720 - 128
Chester County
- 29014 - 10
- 29055 - 35
- 29706 - 27
- 29712 - 5
- 29714 - 12
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 5:55 PM.
