York County’s coronavirus-related death toll tops 50 over weekend
South Carolina health officials announced over the weekend that three York County residents died after contracting the coronavirus, which marks the sixth death in the last seven days.
The residents whose deaths were reported Saturday were 65 or older. All three died near the middle of August after contracting COVID-19, the Department of Health and Environmental Control said. There have been 53 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in York County since March, DHEC said.
DHEC officials also announced that a Chester County resident, 65 or older, died in the middle of August. There have been 18 deaths in the county, according to DHEC.
Over the weekend, York County added 61 new cases. Lancaster County added 37, and Chester County added 11, continuing the trend of declining case counts in all the counties.
DHEC officials said Sunday that 603 more people had tested positive for the virus across the state. Those cases brought the total of South Carolinians diagnosed with coronavirus to 122,944.
The agency also announced Sunday that 10 more people have died after contracting COVID-19. The statewide death toll is now 2,748.
Who is getting the virus?
York County
Of the 4,435 people who have been infected with the virus in York County, the highest percentage is reported among the younger age group. About 18.4% with the virus in York County have been ages 21-30.
The next highest percentage is reported among people ages 41-50. About 16.6% have been in that age range, according to DHEC data.
Lancaster County
Lancaster County follows a similar trend as York County. Of the 1,714 people who have tested positive for the virus in the county, the highest percentage is reported among people ages 31-40. About 16.1% with the virus are in that age range.
The next highest percentage is reported among people ages 41-50, according to DHEC. About 15.7% have been in that age range.
Chester County
Of the 920 people who have tested positive for the virus, the highest percentage is reported among people ages 51-60, according to DHEC data. About 16.4% with the virus in Chester County are in that age range.
The next highest percentage is reported among people ages 41-50. About 15.2% with the virus have been in the age range, according to the data.
South Carolina
Younger people are getting the virus across the state. About 20% of those infected in South Carolina have been ages 21-30, according to DHEC.
The next highest percentage is reported among people ages 31-40, with about 16%, according to DHEC.
All three counties trend similar to statewide data.
How many people have died from the virus?
York County
The number of reported coronavirus-related deaths went up significantly in York County in August. Last week, York County added four deaths. The county has tallied 53 confirmed (and one probable) deaths.
In June, the county had four deaths. In July, it had 14. And in August, York County had 21 deaths. So far in September, the county has reported six.
People in York County who are 81 or older make up less than 3% of those reported to have had the virus, but 52.8% of those who have died from it.
Lancaster County
Reported COVID-19 deaths also went up in Lancaster County in August. Last week, the county confirmed nine deaths. The county has tallied 40 confirmed and three probable deaths since the pandemic started.
In June, the county had eight deaths. In July, it had seven deaths. And in August, Lancaster County had 19 deaths. So far in September, the county has reported four deaths.
People in Lancaster County who are 81 or older make up less than 6% of those reported to have had the virus, but 59.5% of those who have died from it.
Chester County
Chester County has had 18 confirmed (and one probable) deaths since March. In August, the county reported the highest number of deaths with seven.
Most of the those who die from the virus in the county are similar to that of other counties. In the county, 52.6% of those who have died from it have been 81 or older.
South Carolina
The number of reported coronavirus-related deaths across the state peaked on July 25, when 72 deaths were announced. The state has not reported more than 70 deaths in one day since, but the daily toll has stayed in the double digits.
Similar to the three counties, 39% of those who have died from the virus in the state have been 81 or older.
The statewide COVID-19 death toll is now 2,748, according to DHEC.
How are coronavirus cases trending?
York County
York County has a “moderate” incidence rate, based on DHEC’s definition. The two-week cumulative incidence rate represents new cases reported in the last two weeks per 100,000 people.
In the last two weeks, the county has added 518 cases. It has an incidence rate of 184.4 per 100,000 people, according to DHEC.
In July, York County averaged about 60 coronavirus cases a day. In August, the county averaged about 37 cases.
Lancaster County
Lancaster County has a “moderately high” incidence rate, based on DHEC’s definition.
In the last two weeks, the county has added 234 cases. It has an incidence rate of 238.7 per 100,000 people, according to DHEC.
Lancaster County’s daily case average went up in August. It averaged about 17 daily cases in July and about 19 in August.
Chester County
Chester County has a “high” incidence rate, based on DHEC’s definition.
In the last two weeks, the county has added 130 cases. It has an incidence rate of 403.2 per 100,000 people, according to DHEC.
Chester County’s case average stayed the same in August. It averaged about 11 daily cases in July and in August.
South Carolina
The number of daily new cases reported in South Carolina hit a high of 2,343 on July 18. In the month since, totals have slowly dropped. Daily case counts dropped to under 1,000 for 13 consecutive days, before it spiked last weekend. However, the count has since fallen below 1,000 again.
How many people are getting tested?
The percent positive, an indication of how widespread the virus is, represents the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that are actually positive.
The percentage will be high if the number of positive tests is high or the number of total tests is too low, DHEC officials said.
York County
Since March, 42,835 people have been tested for the virus in York County, with about 13.7% of those positive.
York County’s percent positive was highest in July, with 16.5% of the 13,683 tests coming back positive. However in August, fewer tests were done. About 12.8% of the 10,158 were positive, according to DHEC.
The percent was lowest in May, with 6.1% of 6,322 tests being positive, according to DHEC.
Lancaster County
DHEC officials reported that 15,602 tests have been done in Lancaster County since March, with 14.3% of those positive.
Lancaster County’s percent positive was highest in August, with 20% of the 3,494 tests coming back positive. However in July, more tests were done. About 13.5% of the 4,750 were positive then, according to DHEC.
The percent was lowest in May, with 4.7% of the 2,174 tests being positive, according to DHEC.
Chester County
Chester County, with about 33,000 people, has administered the fewest coronavirus tests of the three counties. But it has the highest percentage of positive tests.
Since March, 7,143 Chester County residents have tested, with 17% of those tests coming back positive.
Chester County’s percent positive was highest in July, with 22.5% of the 1,886 tests coming back positive. However in August, fewer tests were done. About 22.2% of the 1,715 tests were positive then, according to DHEC.
The percent was lowest in May, with 7.7% of the 1,335 tests being positive that month, according to DHEC.
South Carolina
With 4,774 individual test results reported Sunday, the percentage of positive tests was 12.6%, DHEC said.
In recent weeks, the percentage of tests coming back positive has ranged from 10% to 18%. It has continued to decline since July, when the average percentage was around 20% or higher. In May, at its lowest point, the percentage of positive tests in South Carolina ranged from 2% to 4%.
The number of tests completed across the state since March has topped one million. Labs in South Carolina have done 1,066,496 tests.
Despite the high total, DHEC officials said in recent weeks fewer people are getting tested. The state averaged about 10,800 tests a day in July, and this month, the number of people tested daily has dipped below 3,000.
