Coronavirus update: York County adds 90-plus cases in one day, Chester cases top 400
York County added nearly 100 new coronavirus cases Thursday, South Carolina health officials announced.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control announced that 93 more people in York County have tested positive for the virus. York County had a record 158 positive coronavirus cases reported Sunday after cases have spiked for more than three weeks. Sunday’s cases mark the county’s highest increase in daily cases reported to date.
The county now has had a total of 2,656 cases since the pandemic started in March, according to DHEC.
DHEC identified 1,538 new cases Thursday statewide, bringing the total reported infections to 76,315. Officials also reported an additional 49 South Carolinians have died as a result of the virus, including an elderly York County resident who died in May. The state’s death toll is now 1,294.
Based on DHEC’s count, there have been 18 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in York County. In the last seven days, health officials have reported five deaths in the county.
There have been several cases of coronavirus confirmed at multiple York County businesses this week. An employee at a Rock Hill Harris Teeter tested positive for COVID-19, officials announced Thursday. And on Wednesday, postal officials announced that two workers at a Fort Mill post office tested positive.
As of Thursday, confirmed cases in Chester County have topped 400, DHEC officials said. The county added 13 cases Thursday, for a total of 408 since the pandemic started, according to DHEC.
Lancaster County added 19 cases and now has had a total of 806, according to DHEC. Agency officials have also reported 17 probable cases in the county. Probable cases are those in which someone who has not received lab test results has coronavirus symptoms or a positive antibody test, according to DHEC’s definition.
Testing and hospitalizations
The percentage of tests that come back positive — another indicator of the coronavirus’ spread — has been rising over the last month, according to DHEC officials.
On Wednesday, 7,360 tests were conducted statewide, with about 21% having positive results, DHEC reported. In May, at its lowest point, the percentage of positive tests ranged from 2% to 4% on average.
Since March, labs across the state have completed 669,445 tests.
In all, hospitals across the state are at about 64% capacity, according to DHEC.
South Carolina has seen a record number of hospitalized coronavirus patients nearly every day in July. Of the 7,998 beds in use across the state on Thursday, 1,723 were occupied by coronavirus patients or those who are suspected of having COVID-19.
That means that more than 21% of occupied beds are being used by coronavirus patients.
Cases by ZIP code
As of Wednesday night, there are cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
▪ 29704 - 36
▪ 29708 - 289
▪ 29710 - 318
▪ 29715 - 323
▪ 29717 - 10
▪ 29730 - 633
▪ 29732 - 646
▪ 29745 - 288
Lancaster County
▪ 29058 - 31
▪ 29067 - 79
▪ 29707 - 176
▪ 29720 - 574
Chester County
▪ 29014 - 28
▪ 29055 - 68
▪ 29706 - 229
▪ 29712 - 19
▪ 29714 - 41
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 3:11 PM.
