Eight more COVID-19 deaths reported Friday in York, Lancaster, Chester counties.
Eight confirmed or probable deaths from COVID-19 were reported Friday from York, Lancaster and Chester counties.
Case counts remained relatively low, with South Carolina registering fewer than 1,000 new confirmed positive test cases Friday for the seventh straight day according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. Yet the eight deaths mark an 11% increase in total COVID-19 deaths in the tri-county area in a single day.
York County had five confirmed deaths. All five were elderly individuals. One death occurred July 9, with one Aug. 16, two on Aug. 17 and one Aug. 18. York County now has 37 confirmed coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.
Two Lancaster County deaths, one confirmed and one probable, were announced Friday. The confirmed death was an elderly individual Aug. 13. The probable death, Aug. 17, is listed simply as under investigation. Lancaster County now has 25 confirmed and three probable deaths due to coronavirus.
Chester County had one confirmed death of an elderly individual Aug. 9. Chester County now has 15 confirmed and one probable deaths.
South Carolina in total had 52 confirmed and 10 probable deaths announced Friday. The 81 total deaths thus far in the tri-county area are part of a growing total statewide, up now to 2,339 confirmed and 120 probable deaths.
Positive test count
York County had 43 new confirmed cases on Friday. Lancaster County had 25 confirmed cases, and a probable one. Chester County had eight confirmed cases. Those numbers, like the past week of figures, continue a trend noticeably lower than July and early August.
Statewide there were 967 confirmed and 55 probable cases announced Friday. The state now has 109,135 confirmed and 1,243 probable cases this year.
Lancaster County’s 25 positive cases Friday were not a record, but the cumulative 14-day active cases in Lancaster County sits at a record high of 320, said county administrator Steve Willis.
“We didn’t have the highest single increase for a day, but it is concerning that we right now have more active cases of COVID-19 at any given time than any time during the pandemic,” Willis said. “What that means is we have 320 active cases in our community.”
Willis said DHEC officials have told county authorities that Lancaster County has had more testing of residents in the past two weeks than the average around the state, which may be a reason the case count has remained high while the state as a whole has trended downward.
Test sites
South Carolina has more than 260 mobile COVID-19 test sites. There also are special events planned.
Carolinas Cornerstone Church, on Gardendale Road in the Fort Mill and Tega Cay area, has a mobile event 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Aug. 26. Another mobile event comes 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Aug. 28 at Boyd Hill Recreation Center in Rock Hill.
The state also has 222 permanent test sites.
For all test and test event locations, visit scdhec.gov.
Cases by ZIP code
As of Thursday night, there are cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
▪ 29702 - 92
▪ 29704 - 57
▪ 29708 - 387
▪ 29710 - 436
▪ 29715 - 456
▪ 29717 - 19
▪ 29726 - 14
▪ 29730 - 985
▪ 29732 - 938
▪ 29742 - 29
▪ 29743 - 8
▪ 29745 - 428
Lancaster County
▪ 29058 - 69
▪ 29067 - 133
▪ 29707 - 271
▪ 29720 - 1,011
Chester County
▪ 29014 - 46
▪ 29031 - 23
▪ 29055 - 112
▪ 29706 - 482
▪ 29712 - 28
▪ 29714 - 63
▪ 29729 - 62
Family visit
On Friday Gov. Henry McMaster requested in a letter to DHEC board chairman Mark Elam that the agency update and issue visitation guidelines for how to resume in-person visitation at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
“Restricting visitation to our state’s nursing homes and assisted living facilities in March was a heartbreaking necessity,” McMaster wrote. “It was the most effective way to contain the spread of COVID-19 and to save the lives of our state’s elderly and at-risk residents.”
He wrote it’s “clear that the time has come” to expand rules to allow in-person visitation by immediate family members, loved ones or caregivers.
On June 26 McMaster ordered DHEC to develop guidelines for limited visitation, but asked for a delay July 2 due to rising rates of COVID-19 infection.
Unemployment
New unemployment figures show more people in South Carolina are returning to work after record job loss this spring.
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce released new data Friday. Unemployment dropped slightly to 8.6% in July. The national unemployment rate is 10.2% in July, down almost a full point since June.
“Overall, I believe our state should be pleased with the recovery-driven direction of our economy,” said Dan Ellzey, workforce department executive director. “We are encouraged by the steady improvements. I believe the positive trends are indicative of the timing and measured steps taken by Gov. McMaster when re-opening our economy.”
April unemployment peaked in South Carolina at almost 13%. Prior to the pandemic and business closures. Still, almost 92,000 more people would have to find jobs for the state to return to pre-pandemic work levels.
Industries that saw the most gains in the past month are professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, education and health services, government, other services and manufacturing. Job decreases statewide came in trade/transportation/utilities, construction and information.
South Carolina overall saw an increase in unemployment claims the most recent week of record, after a month of declines. It’s a similar picture in York, Lancaster and Chester counties. York County had 261 initial unemployment claims the week ending Aug. 15. Lancaster County had 88 claims. Chester County had 48 claims.
