SC school COVID-19 cases jump 20% in a week. In York County, it’s not just students
The latest York, Lancaster and Chester county schools added to the list for COVID-19 cases made it not for students but for staff members.
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control data on Tuesday shows more than half of the public schools in the tri-county area have reported at least one novel coronavirus case since the school year began.
Four new schools were added Tuesday since the last update on Friday: Bethel Elementary School in the Clover School District, Ebinport Elementary School in the Rock Hill School District, Riverview Elementary School in the Fort Mill School District and South Middle School in the Lancaster County School District. All show fewer than five staff COVID-19 cases.
Several other schools across the six public districts in the tri-county area added a first staff case. However, students previously tested positive for the virus.
DHEC cases are listed in total since school years began, which vary by district, and school districts release their own data. It can vary from the DHEC listing based on report date or agency, and whether numbers are active coronavirus cases or cumulative.
COVID in Rock Hill schools
Rock Hill schools update COVID-19 data daily. The district lists active and cumulative cases.
This week there have been two student and two staff positives. There have been 29 student and 15 staff quarantines.
To date there have been 33 student and 22 staff positives. There have been 512 students and 128 staff either in isolation or quarantine.
So far this year student positives come from Northwestern (6), Rock Hill (6) and South Pointe (5) high schools; Saluda Trail (4), Sullivan (2), Castle Heights, Dutchman Creek and Rawlinson Road middle schools; Lesslie (2), Cherry Park, India Hook and Rosewood elementary schools; and the Applied Technology Center.
Staff positives come from Rock Hill (2), South Pointe (2) and Northwestern; Dutchman Creek, Rawlinson Road and Saluda Trail; Mount Gallant, Belleview, Cherry Park, Ebinport, India Hook and Mount Holly elementary schools; and the Flexible Learning Center (4), Central CDC, facilities/operations and transportation.
COVID in Fort Mill schools
The Fort Mill district online listing updates on Fridays. It only shows active cases in the district.
The site shows 12 student and seven staff positive cases. Another 156 students and 22 staff are in quarantine.
Student positive cases appear for 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 positive cases are from Catawba Ridge (2); Banks Trail Middle School; and Kings Town, Pleasant Knoll, Riverview and Sugar Creek elementary schools.
COVID in York schools
A York School District online dashboard dates back to Aug. 17. It lists active and student cases. Like the DHEC data, York figures update Tuesdays and Fridays.
The York data shows one active staff case and 15 (nine student, six staff) total cases.
Student positives to date 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 and Intermediate, Cotton Belt (2), Jefferson Elementary School and district support services.
COVID in Clover schools
The Clover district online dashboard lists active and total cases back to Aug. 17. It shows five student and three staff active cases. There are 63 student and 25 staff total cases.
Total student cases this school year come from Clover High School (39); Clover (7) and Oakridge (3) middle schools; and Larne (8), Crowders Creek (3), Kinard (2) and Griggs Road elementary schools.
Total staff cases come from Clover High (8); Oakridge (2) and Clover middles; and Larne (3), Bethany, Bethel, Crowders Creek, Griggs Road, Kinard and Oakridge elementary schools.
COVID in Lancaster County schools
The Lancaster County district doesn’t show cases by school on its listing, which updates weekly. It doesn’t break down cases by students and staff members, either.
The listing shows 10 positive cases and 247 quarantines for the week of Oct. 19-23. It shows a variety of DHEC countywide metrics that put viral spread in medium or high categories.
COVID in Chester County schools
The Chester County School District online listing updates daily. The Chester school dashboard shows 19 total cases this school year. There have been 10 student and nine staff cases.
Student cases 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 COVID data for schools
Statewide there are 1,956 coronavirus cases in public and private schools (1,364 student, 592 staff). Total cases are up 20% in a week and 10% since Friday afternoon.
DHEC figures aren’t exact by school. The health department lists them as fewer than five cases until they reach that point. Only Clover High School (17), Fort Mill High School (8) and Indian Land Elementary School (5) have exact student counts listed so far. No tri-county school has five or more staff cases.
Of 111 public and private school facilities in the tri-county area, 58 have reported at least one COVID-19 case since school began. Of those schools, 13 have reported both student and staff positives.
York, Lancaster, Chester total COVID cases
DHEC also announced total COVID-19 cases by county on Tuesday. York County had 45 confirmed cases. Lancaster and Chester counties each had 18 confirmed cases. That Chester County figure is the highest there since Oct. 10.
There also was an unusually high number of probable cases. York County had 13 probable cases, and Lancaster County two more.
York County had one new confirmed death related to COVID-19. A middle-aged resident died July 29. There have now been 103 York County deaths since the pandemic began. Lancaster County has 62 and Chester County 27 deaths.
Statewide there were 755 confirmed and 81 probable COVID-19 cases announced Tuesday. There were 19 confirmed and four probable deaths.
So far this year there have been more than 172,000 confirmed or probable coronavirus cases in South Carolina, with 3,602 confirmed and 240 probable deaths.
