Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, York and other schools add new COVID cases.
More than 100 new cases of COVID-19 in South Carolina schools showed up Tuesday compared to four days earlier, as more than 40% of schools in York, Lancaster and Chester counties now show positive cases.
There are now 1,277 positive cases (906 students, 371 staff) in South Carolina schools according to the health department. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control showed 1,141 positive cases (808 students, 333 staff) at its last report on Friday afternoon.
DHEC totals are cumulative since school began. Yet data from individual districts shows even more area schools have had cases.
Rock Hill schools
A Rock Hill School District online dashboard updates daily. It offers cumulative data since Sept. 8, and current week numbers.
On Tuesday the site showed 24 student and 13 staff positives. There have been 433 students or staff members either in isolation or quarantine.
Student positives appear for Northwestern (5), South Pointe (4) and Rock Hill (2) high schools; Saluda Trail (4), Castle Heights, Dutchman Creek, and Sullivan middle schools; Lesslie (2), India Hook, Rosewood and York Road elementary schools; and Central CDC.
Staff positives appear for South Pointe (2) and Rock Hill high schools; Dutchman Creek and Saluda Trail middle schools; Mount Gallant (2), Cherry Park, India Hook and Mount Holly elementary schools; the Flexible Learning Center (2) and Central CDC.
The district shows three positive student cases this week, with 20 students and one staff member in isolation or quarantine.
Fort Mill schools
Fort Mill School district updates it’s online information each Friday. It shows active rather than cumulative cases.
The dashboard currently shows 10 student and three staff positive cases. Fort Mill High School and River Trail Elementary School each show three student cases. Nation Ford High School shows two. Catawba Ridge High School and Fort Mill Middle School have one each.
Staff positive cases appear at Fort Mill and Catwaba Ridge high schools, and Gold Hill Elementary School.
The district totals also show 69 students and nine staff in quarantine.
Clover schools
A Clover School District progress report goes out weekly -- on weekends. The current one shows 53 student and 21 staff cases since school began, but just four active student and two active staff cases.
Oakridge and Clover middle schools each have an active case, as do Kinard and Larne elementary schools. Clover High School and Crowders Creek Elementary School have active staff cases, one each.
Totals since school began show student positives at Clover High (38), Larne (6), Clover Middle (4), Oakridge Middle (3), Crowders Creek and Kinard.
Staff positives since school began are at Clover High (8), Larne (3), Oakridge Middle (2), Bethany Elementary School, Crowders Creek, Kinard, Oakridge Elementary School and Clover Middle.
York schools
The York School District now has its own online dashboard for coronavirus data.
It updates each Tuesday and Friday, as does the DHEC data. The York site lists both active and cumulative cases since Aug. 17.
On Tuesday afternoon, the site showed eight student and five staff positives to date, but just one of each is an active case.
The student positives are at York Comprehensive High School (5), York Intermediate, Harold C. Johnson Elementary School and Cotton Belt Elementary School.
Staff positives are at York Comprehensive High, Jefferson Elementary School, Cotton Belt (2) and among district support services.
Lancaster schools
The new Lancaster School District online dashboard shows weekly totals, but doesn’t break them down by school. For the week ending Oct. 10, there were nine positive COVID-19 cases and 184 people quarantined among in-person students and staff.
The dashboard shows a low trend in incidence rate of cases countywide, but a medium trend in the two-week incidence rate and a high percentage of positive cases the past two weeks. Those listings are given for each county by DHEC.
Chester schools
The Chester County School District online dashboard lists cumulative positive cases since Sept. 8. The data updates daily.
On Tuesday afternoon the Chester County site showed eight student and eight staff positive cases. Student positives come at Chester High School (3), Chester Park COLT (2), Lewisville High School, Chester Middle School and the Great Falls Complex.
Staff positives come at Lewisville Elementary School (4), Chester Park ARTS (2), Lewisville High and among other district personnel.
Statewide DHEC COVID school data
DHEC updates statewide data on coronavirus in schools every Tuesday and Friday. Those figures can vary from school district numbers due to which group reports them and when, whether districts show active rather than cumulative cases and other factors. DHEC also lists cases as fewer than five until they hit that number, while some districts give exact counts.
The DHEC data represents total cases since the school year began.
Area districts vary in what appears. Just one of nine York schools has a case listed, while eight of 10 schools in Clover and eight of 13 schools in Chester County do.
Several new schools appeared on the list Tuesday, compared to the one Friday. Fewer than five total cases each are now shown at Rock Hill High School and the Central Child Development Center in the Rock Hill district, Andrew Jackson High School and Van Wyck Elementary School in the Lancaster County district and Chester High School and Great Falls Elementary in the Chester County district.
York, Lancaster, Chester total COVID cases
Daily coronavirus cases continue to be reported in the tri-county area. DHEC announced 27 new confirmed and one probable COVID-19 cases in York County on Tuesday. Lancaster County added 15 and Chester County six new confirmed cases.
On Tuesday, DHEC announced 629 new confirmed and 66 new probable COVID-19 cases. Those numbers came with 14 confirmed and three probable deaths.
So far this year there have been almost 160,000 confirmed or probable cases in South Carolina with 3,576 confirmed or probable deaths.
School masks, gloves, PPE
State education superintendent Molly Spearman announced Tuesday the South Carolina Department of Education will buy and distribute more than $33 million in protective equipment for all 81 public school districts.
“With the 2020-21 school year well underway, it is critical that teachers and schools have the supplies needed to ensure face-to-face instruction can continue to be carried out as safely as possible,” Spearman said. “This statewide order will not only ensure that face-to-face operations can be maintained for the foreseeable future but will also provide the necessary resources to phase in additional face-to-face learning as health and safety conditions allow.”
Protective items include masks, gloves, wipes, hand sanitizer, face shields, cleaning solution, plexiglass and cleaning equipment.
More than 300,000 pieces of plexiglas have been ordered and delivered to schools.
