York, Lancaster counties report highest daily COVID-19 death count since pandemic began
Eight people in York and Lancaster counties died from coronavirus, marking the highest number of deaths reported in the area in one day, South Carolina health officials announced Wednesday.
In Lancaster County, four residents, all 65 or older, died after contracting COVID-19, officials from the Department of Health and Environmental Control said. Three died on Saturday and one died on Aug. 13.
The county has had 32 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to DHEC.
Four people, all 65 or older, also died in York County, DHEC officials said. The residents died in August. Based on DHEC’s count, there have now been 43 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in York County.
DHEC officials said Wednesday that 505 more people had tested positive for the virus across the state, marking the twelfth consecutive day that the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in South Carolina was less than 1,000. Those cases brought the total of South Carolinians diagnosed with coronavirus to 112,643.
The agency also announced that 42 more people, including the eight from York and Lancaster, have died after contracting COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 2,451.
More coronavirus cases
Lancaster and Chester counties reported its lowest daily case count in months.
Lancaster County added five cases Wednesday, which is the lowest case count since July 13, when the county reported two cases, according to DHEC.
The county has had a total of 1,523 cases.
Chester County reported two cases Wednesday. The last time the county added two cases in a day was at the end of June, according to DHEC.
The county has had a total of 816 cases.
York County’s daily case count continues to decline. The county reported 28 cases Wednesday, for a total of 4,033 cases, DHEC officials said.
In July, York County averaged 60 coronavirus cases a day. In August, the county has reported more than 60 cases on three days.
There’s less testing
With only 2,470 individual tests results reported Wednesday, the percentage of positive tests was 20.4%, DHEC said.
In recent weeks, the percentage of tests coming back has ranged between 10% to 18%, but it has continued to decline since July, when the average percent was around 20% or more. In May, at its lowest point, the percentage of positive tests averaged 2% to 4%.
Since March, labs across the state have completed 972,538 tests.
DHEC officials said in recent weeks, fewer people are getting tested for the virus. The state averaged about 10,800 tests a day in July, and this month, the number of people tested daily has reached below 3,000.
Starting in September, DHEC plans to have at least one free testing site each week in all 46 counties, officials said.
Hospitalized patients rising
Hospitals in York and Lancaster counties are filling up.
About 91% of York County’s beds in use, and in Lancaster County, 86% of beds are occupied. Officials did not say how many of those beds were used for COVID-19 patients.
However, the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients across the state peaked at more than 1,700 at the end of July, and has slightly decreased since.
Of the 1,058 people hospitalized across the state with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, 268 are in intensive care and, of those, 156 are on ventilators, state health officials said Wednesday.
Of the state’s 10,172 total inpatient hospital beds, 2,468 are available, meaning about 81% of the state’s beds are in use.
Cases by ZIP code
As of Tuesday night, there are cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
▪ 29702 - 97
▪ 29704 - 62
▪ 29708 - 401
▪ 29710 - 457
▪ 29715 - 467
▪ 29717 - 19
▪ 29726 - 14
▪ 29730 - 1,022
▪ 29732 - 961
▪ 29742 - 29
▪ 29743 - 8
▪ 29745 - 448
Lancaster County
▪ 29058 - 72
▪ 29067 - 135
▪ 29707 - 283
▪ 29720 - 1081
Chester County
▪ 29014 - 47
▪ 29031 - 23
▪ 29055 - 119
▪ 29706 - 506
▪ 29712 - 30
▪ 29714 - 65
▪ 29729 - 66
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 4:46 PM.
