Coronavirus update: Six virus-related deaths reported in York County over the weekend
Six additional York County residents have died after contracting coronavirus, South Carolina health officials announced over the weekend.
Five of the deaths involved elderly individuals and one was a middle-aged individual, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. All six of the deaths occurred between July 11 and July 22, according to DHEC.
Based on DHEC’s definition, an elderly individual is 65 or older and a middle-aged individual is between 35-64.
In the last seven days, health officials have reported 10 deaths in the county. Based on DHEC’s count, there have been 24 coronavirus-related deaths in the county.
York County also added more than 100 new cases of coronavirus over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, there were 71 and 34 cases added, respectively, according to DHEC. The county now has had a total of 2,805 cases confirmed since the pandemic started.
Across the state, DHEC identified 1,170 new cases Sunday, bringing the state’s total reported infections to 80,856. Officials also reported that an additional 25 South Carolinians have died as a result of the virus, bringing the state’s death toll to 1,436.
Chester County added 32 new coronavirus cases over the weekend, and DHEC officials reported on Saturday that an additional elderly resident died as a result of the virus. Based on DHEC’s count, there have been seven coronavirus-related deaths in Chester County.
The county has had a total of 454 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic, according to DHEC.
Lancaster County added 51 new coronavirus cases over the weekend, according to DHEC. The county has had a total of 901 confirmed cases, according to DHEC.
Testing and hospitalizations
The percentage of tests that come back positive — another indicator of the coronavirus’ spread — has been rising over the last month, according to DHEC officials.
On Saturday, 7,490 tests were conducted statewide, with about 16% having positive results, DHEC reported. In May, at its lowest point, the percentage of positive tests ranged from 2% to 4% on average.
Since March, labs across the state have completed 700,464 tests.
South Carolina has seen a record number of hospitalized coronavirus patients nearly every day in July. But on Sunday, DHEC did not provide new information on hospitalizations in the state. DHEC officials said that hospitals are transitioning to a new federal reporting system and the agency “is aware that the information currently provided by hospitals through the new system has inaccuracies.”
Once the inaccuracies are cleared up, DHEC will provide hospitalization numbers, officials said.
Hospitals in York County are at 65% capacity, with 232 of the 348 beds currently in use, according to DHEC. And Lancaster County hospitals are at about 66% capacity, with 68 of 103 beds currently in use.
Cases by ZIP code
As of Saturday night, there are cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
▪ 29704 - 37
▪ 29708 - 308
▪ 29710 - 331
▪ 29715 - 342
▪ 29717 - 10
▪ 29730 - 679
▪ 29732 - 679
▪ 29745 - 305
Lancaster County
▪ 29058 - 33
▪ 29067 - 81
▪ 29707 - 189
▪ 29720 - 631
Chester County
▪ 29014 - 29
▪ 29055 - 77
▪ 29706 - 260
▪ 29712 - 19
▪ 29714 - 42
