York County’s COVID-19 positive rate keeps downward trend, but there’s less testing
York County continued a trend Monday of fewer than 40 new coronavirus cases a day, South Carolina health officials announced.
The county reported 32 new cases, for a total of 3,763 cases confirmed since the start of the pandemic, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
In July, the county averaged about 60 cases a day -- except on four days when the count was less than 40, according DHEC data. York County now has added fewer than 40 cases on five of the last seven days.
Numbers also are falling across the state.
DHEC officials said Monday that 451 more people had tested positive for the virus across the state, marking the lowest statewide daily total since June 9, when 434 new cases were reported.
Monday’s new cases brought the total of South Carolinians diagnosed with coronavirus to 105,905.
The agency also announced that 20 more people have died after contracting COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 2,185.
Lancaster County added 17 cases, according to DHEC. The county now has had 1,353 cases since the pandemic started in March.
Total cases in Chester County topped 700 last week. The county added nine cases Monday, for a total of 746, according to DHEC.
DHEC officials last week said the drop in cases is due to fewer people getting tested for the virus, The State reported.
The state averaged about 10,800 tests a day in July, but there has been a steady decrease in August, which is due to fewer people wanting to get tested for the virus, according to The State. There have been days with fewer than 4,000 tests completed, so officials have pushed for more sites to be opened.
Testing and hospitalizations
Another indicator of the coronavirus’ spread is the percentage of daily positive tests. In recent weeks, the percentage of positive tests averaged 18%-20%.
Officials reported that 3,930 tests were conducted statewide, with about 12% having positive results. That’s a lower rate than in March and early April, DHEC reported. In May, at its lowest point, the percentage of positive tests averaged 2% to 4%.
Since March, labs across the state have completed 935,969 tests.
The number of hospitalized coronavirus patients peaked at more than 1,700 on July 23 and has slightly decreased since.
Of the 1,101 people hospitalized across the state with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, 282 are in intensive care and, of those, 175 are on ventilators, state health officials said Monday.
Of the state’s 10,194 total inpatient hospital beds, 2,421 are available, meaning 76.3% of the state’s beds are in use.
There’s even less space in Lancaster County, with 81% of the county’s beds in use, and in York County, 76% of beds are occupied.
Where to get tested
Fort Mill will have its first free testing site this week. The site will open Tuesday at Fort Mill YMCA at the Complex, at 971 Tom Hall Street. Testing is from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
In Chester, there will be testing Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Cestrian Square, 115 Cestrian Drive.
York will continue free testing Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m at Clinton Chapel AME Zion Church, at 302 California Street.
And Rock Hill will have testing Saturday from 9 a.m to noon at Rock Grove AME Zion Church, at 1460 Margaret Street.
All testing sites are free and do not require an appointment or insurance.
Cases by ZIP code
As of Sunday night, these are the total number of coronavirus cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
▪ 29704 - 55
▪ 29708 - 379
▪ 29710 - 424
▪ 29715 - 443
▪ 29717 - 16
▪ 29730 - 950
▪ 29732 - 909
▪ 29745 - 415
Lancaster County
▪ 29058 - 65
▪ 29067 - 128
▪ 29707 - 256
▪ 29720 - 951
Chester County
▪ 29014 - 45
▪ 29055 - 110
▪ 29706 - 462
▪ 29712 - 26
▪ 29714 - 58
