Rock Hill, Fort Mill and Clover schools add new COVID cases, among 102 new statewide.
More than 100 new COVID-19 cases in South Carolina schools were announced Friday, an increase from just three days prior.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environemental Control lists positive coronavirus cases for schools each Tuesday and Friday. The 724 total cases announced Friday are up from 622 cases earlier in the week. There are now 501 student and 223 staff cases, compared to 423 student and 199 staff cases on Tuesday.
The York School District still doesn’t show any positive cases. It’s the only tri-county district not to report one, according to DHEC statistics. The Chester County School District still shows fewer than five cases at just one facility, its Flexible Learning Center.
Clover High School added two new student cases, to 11 total. The school also shows fewer than five staff positive cases. The Clover School District also has new cases at Larne Elementary School. Fewer than five staff cases were reported since Tuesday, to go with fewer than five student cases the school already had. In all, six Clover schools have reported cases.
The Lancaster County School District didn’t report any new cases since Tuesday, though five district schools have fewer than five cases each including Buford, Indian Land and Lancaster high schools.
DHEC lists totals as fewer than five cases until they reach that point to protect student and staff privacy. So schools could have the same listing they did earlier in the week but have a couple of cases more, if the total remains fewer than five.
Rock Hill school COVID cases
Rock Hill updates its own COVID-19 information online, daily. As of Friday afternoon the district had nine total student and seven positive staff cases since Sept. 8. In that time about 2% of district staff and students who spend time in school (Rock Hill and other districts have separate virtual options) have been in isolation or quarantine.
There have been two new student positive cases this week, and one staff positive. There have been 38 new students in isolation or quarantine this week, and 15 such staff members.
Overall positive student cases have come at Northwestern (two), Rock Hill and South Pointe high schools; Sullivan, Saluda Trail and Castle Heights middle schools; and Rosewood and India Hook elementary schools.
The nine student and seven positives on Friday are up from seven students and six staff on Tuesday.
COVID in Fort Mill schools
The Fort Mill School District has a similar online listing. It updates each Friday.
As of Friday, the site shows two positive cases among students. Both are at Orchard Park Elementary School. Every school in this district has at least one student or staff member with a positive test or in quarantine, except Gold Hill Middle School.
The Fort Mill site rolls cases off as they become inactive. The district had prior positive student cases (four total) at all three of its high schools, plus Fort Mill Elementary School. Prior staff cases, three total, came from Banks Trail and Gold Hill middle schools, plus district transportation.
The DHEC listing sometimes varies from the Rock Hill and Fort Mill list due to reporting lag time. On Friday, DHEC listed fewer than five total cases each at Fort Mill High School and Doby’s Bridge, Fort Mill, and Pleasant Knoll elementary schools.
York, Lancaster, Chester COVID cases
DHEC also lists total daily cases by county. York County had 23 new cases Friday. Lancaster County had 16 confirmed and two probable cases. Chester County added 10 cases.
Lancaster County also had three deaths reported. All three were elderly individuals. One each died Sept. 10, Sept. 16 and Sept. 23.
In all South Carolina announced 647 new confirmed 40 new probable cases on Friday. DHEC announced 20 confirmed and one probable deaths.
Football games, hospital labs
State epidemiologist Linda Bell and interim public health director Brannon Traxler on Friday afternoon addressed COVID-19 issues related to upcoming football games. High school football games this week are large gathering spots, where the doctors suggest continued social distancing and measures like hand washing and six feet of distance.
“That social distancing is so important,” Traxler said.
Earlier in the week DHEC announced a large number of historic test results came from a medical provider in Georgia. Bell said DHEC factored those numbers into their data and the thousands of mostly negative results wouldn’t have significantly changed indicators on virus spread, like the daily percentage of positive tests.
York and Lancaster counties border North Carolina and residents have access to numerous medical facilities just across the North Carolina line. COVID-19 test results from reference labs outside of South Carolina have to report both positive and negative COVID-19 results that involve South Carolina residents, Bell said, but hospitals that aren’t reference labs don’t.
“That is not what hospitals are required to do,” Bell said.
She said hospitals are required to report positive cases, which leads to confidence in figures for how many people who live in an area have the disease. Even areas on or near state lines.
“For out-of-state hospitals, they are required to report positive cases to us,” Bell said.
