Half of York, Lancaster and Chester county public schools reported COVID-19 cases
Half of all public school facilities in York, Lancaster and Chester counties have reported at least one COVID-19 case to the state health department as of Friday afternoon.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control updates a listing of coronavirus cases in schools each Tuesday and Friday. Fifty-one of the 102 public schools in the tri-county area have reported at least one case since the school year started.
Three new schools were added to the list on Friday. Catawba Ridge High School in the Fort Mill School District shows cases. So do Great Falls High School in the Chester County School District and York Intermediate School in the York School District.
The DHEC data is just part of the picture. Each district publicly shares its own data.
Rock Hill schools
The Rock Hill School District updates its online listing of coronavirus cases in schools daily. It includes total cases since school began and new cases for the current week.
Five students and four staff members tested positive this week, according to the site on Friday.
There are 71 students and 22 staff members in isolation or quarantine this week, the data shows.
Since Sept. 8 , there have been 32 students and 20 staff employees positive for the virus. There have been 484 students and 113 staff either in isolation or quarantine since that time.
Student positives to date come from South Pointe (7), Northwestern (6) and Rock Hill (5) high schools; Saluda Trail (4), Sullivan (2), Castle Heights and Dutchman Creek middle schools; and Lesslie (2), Cherry Park, India Hook, Rosewood and York Road elementary schools.
Staff positives to date come from South Pointe (2), Northwestern and Rock Hill; Dutchman Creek, Rawlinson Road and Saluda Trail middle schools; Mount Gallant (2), Belleview, Cherry Park, Ebinport, India Hook and Mount Holly elementary schools; and the district Flexible Learning Center (4), Central CDC and district operations.
Fort Mill schools
The Fort Mill district updates its online list of coronavirus cases each Friday. The Fort Mill listing only involves ongoing cases.
On Friday it shows 12 student and seven staff positives. It also shows 156 students and 22 staff quarantined.
Students positives come from Fort Mill (5), Catawba Ridge and Nation Ford high schools; Fort Mill and Pleasant Knoll middle schools; and Gold Hill (2) and Kings Town elementary schools.
Staff positives come from Catawba Ridge (2), Banks Trail Middle School and Kings Town, Pleasant Knoll, Riverview and Sugar Creek elementary schools.
Clover schools
The Clover School District online dashboard shows four active student and two active staff cases on Friday. There are 59 student and 23 staff cases since Aug. 17.
Total student positives come from Clover High School (39); Clover (6) and Oakridge (3) middle schools; and Larne (6), Crowders Creek (2), Kinard (2) and Griggs Road elementary schools.
Total staff cases come from Clover High (8); Clover and Oakridge (2) middle schools; and Larne (3), Bethany, Crowders Creek, Griggs Road, Kinard and Oakridge elementary schools.
York schools
The York district, like DHEC, updates its information Tuesdays and Fridays. The district site online lists both active and cumulative cases.
The York site shows just one active case. It’s a staff member. There are nine student positives and six student positives on its list since Aug 17.
Student cases come from York Comprehensive High School (6), York Intermediate School and both Harold C. Johnson and Cotton Belt elementary schools. Staff positives come from York High, York Middle, Cotton Belt (2), Jefferson Elementary School and district support services.
Lancaster County schools
The Lancaster County School District releases weekly data on active cases. On Friday the online dashboard shows 10 positive tests and 247 quarantines for the week of Oct. 19-23. Those figures include in-person students and staff.
The dashboard shows separate DHEC data on countywide disease activity. Lancaster County has a two-week incident rate of COVID-19 listed by the state as medium. The incident trend and two-week positive rate both score in the high range.
Chester County schools
The Chester County district updates its online listing daily. It shows total cases since Sept. 8. On Friday afternoon it shows 19 cases, 10 from students and nine from staff.
Chester County cases come from eight sites, plus district personnel. Just four sites haven’t had a case.
Student positives come from Chester High School (3), the Great Falls Complex (2) and Lewisville High School; Chester Middle School (2); and Chester Park COLT (2). Staff positives come from Lewisville High, Lewisville Elementary School (4), Chester Park ARTS (2), Chester Learning Center and among other district personnel.
DHEC school COVID data
Statewide there are now 1,772 COVID-19 cases in schools since classes began this fall. There are 1,242 student and 530 staff cases. Figures are up from 1,631 cases (1,143 students, 448 staff) on Tuesday.
In early weeks after DHEC began releasing data Sept. 8, Clover High School was the only school in the state with five or more cases. DHEC lists data as fewer than five until schools reach that number, to prevent identification of students or staff.
As of Friday, three tri-county schools now have five or more cases among either students or staff. Clover High has 17 student and fewer than five staff cases, per the DHEC data. Fort Mill High School has seven student cases. Indian Land Elementary School has five student cases, and fewer than five staff cases.
DHEC cases often differ from what the districts report based on lag time, who sends the reports, whether cases are active or cumulative and other factors.
York, Lancaster, Chester COVID cases
DHEC listed 784 new confirmed and 83 new probable COVID-19 cases Friday. There were 18 confirmed and five probable deaths statewide. Those figures bring totals this year to more than 168,000 probable or confirmed cases in the state and 3,777 confirmed or probable deaths.
York County had 30 new confirmed and six probable cases Friday. Lancaster County had 15 confirmed cases, plus one probable. Chester County had eight new confirmed cases.
York County had two of the deaths announced Friday. Both were elderly residents. One died Sept. 25 and the other Oct. 20.
To date, York County has 102 deaths associated with COVID-19. Lancaster County has 61 and Chester County 27 deaths.
Hospital bed availability
DHEC lists the number of hospital beds available in counties statewide. As of Friday DHEC lists all 250 hospital beds in York County as occupied. Lancaster County has 23 beds available, and 60 beds occupied. Chester County has four beds available and nine occupied.
DHEC announced Friday the agency launched a new key indicators dashboard to give more public access on current day, previous day and previous 14-day data to show viral spread levels. It includes rate of cases and test per 100,000 people, percent positive, deaths by date, hospitalizations, ICU hospitalizations and COVID-19 patients.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 5:46 PM.
