Lancaster, York County officials ‘cautiously optimistic’ after dip in COVID-19 cases
York County reported fewer than 20 coronavirus cases Thursday, marking its lowest case count since early June.
Department of Health and Environmental Control officials said the county added 11 COVID-19 cases. The last time the county recorded a smaller case count was on June 7, with eight cases, according to official state numbers.
Lancaster County also had a significant drop Thursday, with three cases reported. The last time the county had a smaller case count was on July 13 when two cases were added, according to official state numbers.
The county’s Emergency Management Director Darren Player said Lancaster County has been on the downward trend after cases spiked above 40 a day a few weeks ago. He said the county is “cautiously optimistic” about the recent numbers.
“I’m pleased that the number has gone down,” Player said. “I hope that continues to be the trend. School started last week and we’re hoping we don’t end up with a spike because of that. So far, it doesn’t appear to be that way.”
Chester County also added three cases and has continued to add case counts in the single digits this week, which was what the county commonly reported in the early months of the pandemic.
DHEC officials also said Thursday that 264 more people had tested positive for the virus across the state, marking the second day this week that South Carolina has recorded fewer than 300 cases. That brought the total number of South Carolinians diagnosed with coronavirus to 124,397.
The agency also announced Thursday that 24 more people have died after contracting COVID-19, including a York County resident. The statewide death toll is now 2,823.
The York County resident who died was 65 or older, and died Tuesday, DHEC officials said.
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, and so far in September, the county is continuing to record several deaths a week.
Last week, York County added seven deaths. The county has tallied 56 confirmed (and one probable) deaths, nine of which have been reported in September.
In June, the county had four deaths. In July, it had 14. And in August, York County had 21 deaths.
People in York County who are 81 or older make up less than 3% of those reported to have had the virus, but 51.8% of those who have died from it.
Lancaster County
Reported COVID-19 deaths also went up in Lancaster County in August, but the county has seen a drop in reported deaths in September.
Last week, Lancaster County added three deaths. The county has tallied 39 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 7% of those reported to have had the virus, but 61% of those who have died from it.
Chester County
Chester County has had 18 confirmed (and one probable) deaths since March.
In August, Chester County added its highest number of deaths in August with seven. So far in September, the county has added one death.
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.
How are 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.
There’s been a total of 4,519 people to test positive for the virus in York County, DHEC said. The county’s two-week incidence rate is 169.8 per 100,000 people, according to DHEC.
In July, York County averaged about 60 coronavirus cases a day. The average dropped in August, with the county averaging about 37 cases a day.
Lancaster County
Lancaster County has a “moderately high” incidence rate, based on DHEC’s definition.
There’s been a total of 1,745 people to test positive for the virus in Lancaster County, DHEC said. The county’s two-week incidence rate is 220.4 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.
There’s been a total of 937 people to test positive for the virus in Chester County, DHEC said. The county’s two-week incidence rate is 375.3 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
Reported cases across the state are dropping. The number of daily new cases reported in South Carolina hit a high of 2,343 on July 18, but have continued to decline in the months since.
Wednesday, South Carolina added its lowest case count since June 3, but the state also had one of the lowest numbers of people getting tested in three months. The number of people in South Carolina tested went up Thursday.
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, 44,083 people have been tested for the virus in York County, with about 13.6% 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.
In the county, COVID-19 tests have been performed at a rate of 156.9 tests per 1,000 residents, DHEC said.
Lancaster County
DHEC officials reported that 16,026 tests have been done in Lancaster County since March, with 14.2% 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.
In the county, COVID-19 tests have been performed at a rate of 163.5 tests per 1,000 residents, DHEC said.
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, 7,301 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.
In the county, COVID-19 tests have been performed at a rate of 226.4 tests per 1,000 residents, DHEC said.
South Carolina
The state reported 4,417 individual test results Thursday, which resulted in the state’s lowest percentage of positive tests in weeks. Of those tests, 6% came back positive, DHEC reported.
Earlier this week, the state had reported some of the lowest testing totals in months, with less than 3,000 tested on Tuesday and Wednesday. But the percentage of positive tests came back in the high-teens.
The percentage 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%.
Labs in South Carolina have done 1,098,359 tests.
Where to get tested?
Winthrop University announced in a release Wednesday that the school will offer free COVID-19 testing in the North parking lot of the Winthrop Coliseum on select dates through “at least” December.
The testing, which will be performed via nasal swab, will begin Friday and will be offered on Sept. 18 and Sept. 23. The spot also will turn into a COVID-19 vaccine site once one emerges, the release said.
Patients don’t have to leave their cars when getting tested, said Winthrop’s health and counseling services director Jackie Concorda in a statement.
How has the pandemic affected employment?
Unemployment continues to level out after a COVID-19 surge this spring. The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce released initial unemployment claims data Thursday morning. For the week ending Sept. 5, York County dropped to 177 claims from an uptick of 191 claims the prior week.
Lancaster County increased by five claims for the most recent week to 62, while Chester County dropped by nine claims to 27. The statewide total of 5,113 unemployment claims the most recent week is up 94 claims in a week.
“Minor upticks should not be alarming as this is normal in data reporting,” workforce department director Dan Ellzey said with the data release.
At their high points in April, York County reported more than 3,000 and Lancaster County more than 1,000 claims in a week as social distancing measures closed or altered businesses. Chester County peaked at more than 600 claims in a week.
To date, the tri-county area has had 38,792 initial unemployment claims since mid-March. York County has 25,775 claims. Lancaster County has 8,484 claims and Chester County has 4,533 claims.
