Coronavirus

In 2 weeks, York County has added more than 1,500 new coronavirus cases, DHEC says

ROCK HILL

York County has reported more than 100 new coronavirus cases on five of the past seven days, and has totaled 1,522 cases in the last two weeks.

Wednesday, the county added 120 cases, marking the sixth highest total to date, according to information released by the Department of Health and Environmental Control. The highest was reported on July 19 with 158 cases. However, the next four highest totals were all reported in November, raising the county’s monthly case average to the highest its ever been.

In November, the county averaged about 85 cases a day. Prior to that, the county’s highest monthly average was 60, which came at the pandemic’s height in July, according to DHEC data.

York County, with a population of about 280,000, has had 10,060 confirmed or probable cases since the pandemic started.

Lancaster County’s monthly average also spiked in November. The county averaged about 28 cases a day, according to DHEC data. Its previous highest monthly average came in August with about 19 cases a day.

Wednesday, Lancaster County reported 21 new cases, according to DHEC data. Its highest case count is 56, which was recorded on Nov. 27. Lancaster County has had 3,584 confirmed or probable cases since March.

Chester County reported 16 cases, which is among its higher daily totals in recent weeks. Chester County has had 1,611 confirmed or probable cases.

The state added 1,612 total confirmed cases. More than 206,000 people in South Carolina have tested positive for the virus since March and 4,126 have died, according to DHEC data.

Two deaths were reported in the area Wednesday. A York County resident, 65 or older, died Nov. 28 after contracting the virus. A Chester County resident, between 35 and 64, died Nov. 29, from the virus. A total of 35 confirmed deaths were reported across the state, DHEC officials said.

How are the numbers trending?

York County

  • Number of tests completed Monday (most recent date available): 743
  • Average percent positive of viral tests in the past week: 18.6%
  • Total confirmed cases: 9,461
  • Total confirmed deaths: 136
  • Seven-day average of new cases: 112
  • Two-week incidence rate: 541.7 cases per 100,000 people, a “high” rate under DHEC’s definition.

    • An incidence rate measures how quickly a disease has spread through a given population.



    Lancaster County


  • Number of tests completed Monday: 87
  • Average percent positive of viral tests in the past week: 18.8%
  • Total confirmed cases: 3,358
  • Total confirmed deaths: 60
  • Seven-day average of new cases: 32.1
  • Two-week incidence rate: 452 cases per 100,000 people, a “high” rate.

    • Chester County

  • Number of tests completed Monday: 57
  • Average percent positive of viral tests in the past week: 21%
  • Total confirmed cases: 1,555
  • Total confirmed deaths: 34
  • Seven-day average of new cases: 16
  • Two-week incidence rate: 601.7 cases per 100,000 people, a “high” rate.

    • South Carolina

  • Number of tests completed Monday: 7,480
  • Percent positive of viral tests done Monday: 21.6%
  • New cases: 1,612
  • New deaths: 35
  • Seven-day average of new cases: 1,545
  • Total confirmed cases: 206,653
  • Total confirmed deaths: 4,126

    • This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 4:51 PM.

    Profile Image of Cailyn Derickson
    Cailyn Derickson
    The Herald
    Cailyn Derickson is a city government and politics reporter for The Herald, covering York, Chester and Lancaster counties. Cailyn graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has previously worked at The Pilot and The News and Observer.
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