Coronavirus latest: York County reports 2nd highest number of daily cases
York County reported its second highest daily number of coronavirus cases Tuesday, South Carolina health officials announced.
The county added 33 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. Last week, the county reported at least 20 new cases daily, and it added 34 new cases on Saturday, which marked the highest daily number of cases reported to date.
York County has had 685 cases confirmed since the pandemic started, according to DHEC.
“These numbers over the weekend were off the charts,” York County Council member William “Bump” Roddey told The Herald this week. “If people have skepticism that COVID-19 is real, I would hope they would get over that skepticism because it appears that COVID-19 is more rampant than ever.”
Lancaster County reported 11 new cases Tuesday and now has had a total of 259 confirmed cases, according to DHEC.
Darren Player, Lancaster County’s emergency management director, said he is not surprised by the high number of cases reported Tuesday in the county, which reported two cases the day before. He said the jump could be related to free testing done at Steele Hill AME Zion Church last week and testing done at private labs.
DHEC identified 595 new cases of COVID-19 across the state Tuesday, pushing the overall total of infections to 19,990. Chester County reported three new cases Tuesday, for a total of 125 confirmed cases, DHEC said.
With the addition of five new deaths related to the virus reported Tuesday, the state’s death toll is now at 607.
Of the five people who died, three were elderly individuals from Chesterfield, Colleton and Richland counties. Two were middle-aged individuals from Dillon and Richland counties.
Testing the virus
As part of DHEC’s efforts to increase testing across the state, the agency has set up mobile testing sites. Two will be open in Rock Hill this week. DHEC set a goal of testing about 2% of the state’s population in June, a goal they met in May.
According to DHEC’s website, a free testing site will be open Thursday at First Calvary Baptist Church from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The church is at 228 Lucky Lane in Rock Hill.
On Monday, 4,339 tests were conducted statewide, with 13.7% having positive results, DHEC reported.
Since March, labs across the state have completed 299,033 tests. But DHEC officials estimate that about 86% of COVID-19 patients in the state have not been tested or identified, which means about 142,786 people in South Carolina have likely had the virus.
The agency calculated that there are up to 4,208 unidentified cases in York County based on projections released Monday. The agency estimated Lancaster County has as many as 1,591 unidentified cases, and Chester County has up to 768 unidentified cases.
Hospitalization rate
Hospitals across the state are at about 68% capacity. Of the 7,175 beds in use across the state on Tuesday, DHEC officials said, 571 are occupied by coronavirus patients or those who are suspected of having COVID-19.
Hospitals in York County are at about 87% capacity, according to DHEC. Lancaster County hospitals are at about 44% capacity.
In seven of the last nine days, the number of coronavirus patients or those suspected of having COVID-19 who were hospitalized exceeded 500. In April and May, the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients did not exceed 500.
Coronavirus cases by ZIP code
As of Monday night, there are cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
- 29704 - 7
- 29708 - 67
- 29710 - 94
- 29715 - 89
- 29717 - 5
- 29730 - 158
- 29732 - 176
- 29745 - 61
Lancaster County
- 29058 - 10
- 29067 - 22
- 29707 - 54
- 29720 - 193
Chester County
- 29014 - 13
- 29055 - 42
- 29706 - 43
- 29712 - 7
- 29714 - 14
