Over 300 school COVID-19 cases listed in York, Lancaster and Chester as SC tops 2,000
There are now more than 300 COVID-19 cases in schools in York, Lancaster or Chester counties.
On Friday the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control lists 2,142 coronavirus cases -- adding 186 cases since Tuesday -- in public and private schools since school started this fall. There are 1,496 student and 646 staff cases, according to the DHEC.
Rawlinson Road Middle School in the Rock Hill school district appears on the DHEC listing for the first time Friday. So do Pleasant Knoll Middle School and Springfield Elementary School in the Fort Mill school district.
The DHEC figures typically lag behind area school district postings for active or total COVID-19 cases.
Rock Hill COVID-19 cases
There have been five new student and six new staff cases this week, according to Rock Hill school district’s website that lists weekly and total COVID-19 cases.
There have been 94 students and 29 staff either in isolation or quarantine., according to the district.
Since Sept. 8 there have been 36 student and 26 staff positives. There have been 575 students and 138 staff in isolation or quarantine.
Student positives to date come from Northwestern (7), Rock Hill (7) and South Pointe (5) high schools; Saluda Trail (4), Sullivan (2), Castle Heights, Dutchman Creek and Rawlinson Road middle schools; Cherry Park (2), Lesslie (2), India Hook, Rosewood and York Road elementary schools; and the Applied Technology Center.
Total staff positives come from Rock Hill (3), South Pointe (2) and Northwestern; Dutchman Creek, Rawlinson Road and Saluda Trail; Mount Gallant (2), Belleview, Cherry Park, Ebenezer, Ebinport, India Hook, Mount Holly and Oakdale elementary schools; and the Flexible Learning Center (4), Central CDC, facilities/operations and transportation.
Fort Mill COVID-19 cases
The Fort Mill district lists only active cases and updates on Fridays.
The site shows 10 student and six staff cases positive this week. There have been 74 cases in five weeks, according to the district’s website.
The site shows 179 students and 42 staff in quarantine.
Catawba Ridge High and Pleasant Knoll Middle schools show three student cases each. Fort Mill High and Gold Hill Elementary schools show two each.
Springfield Elementary School has two active staff cases. Nation Ford and Catawba Ridge high schools have one each, as do Kings Town and Riverview elementary schools.
Clover COVID-19 cases
The Clover school district shows active and total cases on its website.
There are six active student and three active staff cases as of Friday, according to the site.
Clover Middle School, Crowders Creek and Larne elementary schools each have two student positives. Bethel and Griggs Road elementary schools show staff positives.
The district also shows 64 student and 25 staff positives since school began.
Student positives to date come from Clover High School (39); Clover (8) and Oakridge (3) middle schools; and Larne (8), Crowders Creek (3), Kinard (2) and Griggs Road elementary schools.
Staff positives come from every school in the district. They include cases at Clover High (8); Oakridge (2) and Clover middle schools; and Larne (3), Bethany, Bethel, Crowders Creek, Griggs Road, Kinard and Oakridge elementary schools.
York COVID-19 cases
The York school district lists active and total cases.
There are two active staff member cases as of Friday, according to the district’s website. There have been nine student and seven staff positives since Aug. 17.
York Comprehensive High School has six student cases. York Intermediate School, Harold C. Johnson Elementary School and Cotton Belt Elementary School show one each.
Cotton Belt shows two staff positives. One each appears for York High and York Intermediate, Harold C. Johnson, Jefferson Elementary School and district support services.
Lancaster County COVID-19 cases
The Lancaster County School District online listing for COVID-19 cases shows 18 new positive cases and 247 quarantines this week. The district doesn’t list cases by school.
However, during a special-called board meeting Thursday, school officials said 48 staff members are out either for a positive test or quarantine. Through Thursday, there were 18 new positive cases among students and staff, with 11 on Monday alone, officials said.
Lancaster High School closed for in-person classes and activities through Nov. 9 because of the school was without enough staff because of too many positive cases and others quarantining, school officials said Wednesday.
According to staff, there have been 54 COVID-19 cases in four weeks.
Chester County COVID-19 cases
The Chester County School District lists 20 COVID-19 cases since Sept. 8. There have been 11 student and nine staff positives.
Chester High School accounts for three student positives. Lewisville and Great Falls high schools, Chester Middle School and Chester Park COLT show two each.
Lewisville Elementary School shows four staff positives, and Chester Park ARTS two. Lewisville High, Chester Learning Center and other personnel show one each.
DHEC COVID-19 school cases
DHEC lists cases as none or fewer than five until schools reach that number, either for students or staff cases. Four schools now have an actual figure listed. Clover High School has 17 student cases. Fort Mill High School has nine. Andrew Jackson High School and Indian Land Elementary School each have five.
Almost 56% of tri-county public schools — 57 of 102 — have at least one reported positive case. The Clover (9 of 10 schools), Fort Mill (14 of 19) and Chester County (9 of 13) districts have the highest percentage of schools with positives. York has the lowest, with just two of nine schools with a reported case.
Return to school plans
As cases continue to rise, local school districts are deciding when and how to return to in-person classes.
On Thursday, the school board in Lancaster County voted to send elementary students back to class four days a week instead of two once Plexiglas is installed in classrooms, likely by mid- to late November.
Rock Hill superintendent Bill Cook said in a statement Tuesday that the children up to second grade will start back five days a week Nov. 10. Older elementary students would start back by the end of November, and middle and high school students would go to five days next semester.
In Fort Mill, the school board eyes a return to five-day class for middle and high school students starting next semester. Elementary students have already returned to in-person class full time, five days a week.
Virtual only students will remain virtual.
York, Lancaster, Chester COVID-19
DHEC listed new coronavirus cases for the state and counties Friday. There were 680 new confirmed and 37 probable cases. There were seven new deaths reported, including an elderly Chester County resident who dies Wednesday.
To date, there are more than 175,000 confirmed or probable coronavirus cases. There are 3,653 confirmed and 243 probable deaths.
York County had 32 new confirmed cases Friday. Lancaster County had five and Chester County four cases. Lancaster also had two probable cases, and York one. Friday was the lowest case count for York County in a week, and the lowest in Lancaster County in 11 days.
