Low COVID-19 case count continues as Chester, Lancaster counties add single digit totals
Lancaster and Chester counties added its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in recent weeks, South Carolina health officials said.
Chester County reported five cases Tuesday, and the last time the county added five cases was on July 9, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. The county now has had a total of 751 cases confirmed since the pandemic started, DHEC reported.
Health officials also announced Tuesday another person from Chester County died after contracting COVID-19. The individual, who was 65 or older, died on Aug. 9, according to DHEC. Based on the agency’s count, there now have been a total of 14 coronavirus-related deaths in Chester County.
DHEC officials said Tuesday that 691 more people had tested positive for the virus across the state, continuing a trend of declining cases reported in South Carolina. Those cases brought the total of South Carolinians diagnosed with coronavirus to 106,574.
The agency also announced that 47 more people have died after contracting COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 2,230.
Lancaster County added nine cases Monday, which is the lowest daily total since Aug. 5, when seven cases were reported, according to DHEC. The county now has had a total of 1,367 cases since the pandemic started, DHEC officials said.
York County reported 40 cases, continuing a streak of declining case totals in the county, DHEC officials said. The county has a total of 3,804 cases since the start of the pandemic in March, according to DHEC.
DHEC officials last week said the drop in cases in the state 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 3,716 tests were conducted statewide, with about 19% having positive results. That’s a higher rate than what health officials reported 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 940,948 tests.
The number of hospitalized coronavirus patients peaked at more than 1,700 on July 23 and has slightly decreased since.
Of the 1,116 people hospitalized across the state with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, 294 are in intensive care and, of those, 173 are on ventilators, state health officials said Monday.
Of the state’s 10,194 total inpatient hospital beds, 2,436 are available, meaning 75% of the state’s beds are in use.
There’s even less space across York and Lancaster counties. About 83% of Lancaster County’s beds in use, and in York County, 78% of beds are occupied.
Where to get tested
York will continue free testing Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m at Clinton Chapel AME Zion Church, at 302 California Street.
There will be free testing in Rock Hill on 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 Monday night, these are the total number of coronavirus cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
▪ 29704 - 55
▪ 29708 - 380
▪ 29710 - 424
▪ 29715 - 446
▪ 29717 - 17
▪ 29730 - 963
▪ 29732 - 924
▪ 29745 - 421
Lancaster County
▪ 29058 - 66
▪ 29067 - 128
▪ 29707 - 262
▪ 29720 - 961
Chester County
▪ 29014 - 45
▪ 29055 - 110
▪ 29706 - 464
▪ 29712 - 27
▪ 29714 - 59
