Another COVID-19 death, more than 100 new cases reported in York, Lancaster, Chester.
A Lancaster resident died and more than 100 new tri-county COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, according to information released Friday by the state health department.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control listed 104 new coronavirus cases in the tri-county region. York County had 61 of them. Lancaster had 25 and Chester County 18 new cases.
The data shows an elderly resident in Lancaster County died from the coronavirus on Thursday.
The state also reported one new case of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children associated with COVID-19. The child from the upstate region is under 10 years old. There have now been five such cases in South Carolina.
On a media call Thursday afternoon, DHEC physician consultant Brannon Traxler said any cases of the inflamatory syndrome are troubling but that there have been relatively few statewide.
“Each one of those cases represents somebody’s child,” Traxler said. “I am happy that there are so few cases not only in South Carolina, but nationwide.”
Statewide there were 1,921 new coronavirus cases and 46 deaths announced. There are now 78,298 positive and 309 probable cases since March. There are 1,339 confirmed and 46 probable deaths in that time statewide too.
Traxler said there isn’t solid data yet to show whether local face covering and mask requirements impact coronavirus spread.
Fort Mill, Rock Hill, York and Chester have mask requirements within their municipal limits. Communities that set up requirements have been enforcing them for a matter of days to a couple of weeks.
“It’s going to just take more time before we can determine specific trends,” Traxler said.
Gov. Henry McMaster hasn’t called for a statewide mask requirement, but has encouraged municipalities to make decisions for themselves.
“We support the local governments who have implemented the mask ordinances,” Traxler said.
The most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates put the population of York County at 280,979. With the new cases, York County now has 2,715 confirmed for COVID-19, or just less than 1% of the total population.
Lancaster County has a population of 98,012 and Chester County a population of 32,244, according to census figures. Total cases of 851 in Lancaster County and 426 in Chester County bring the rates coronavirus cases in their respective populations to .87% and 1.3%.
Heading into Friday, York and Lancaster County had fewer than 1% of their total population with positive COVID-19 cases. Lancaster had the sixth lowest and York County the eighth lowest per capita case rates among 46 counties in South Carolina.
Chester County had the 16th lowest rate in South Carolina at less than 1.3% of its total population with positive tests.
Chuck Haynes, York County Emergency Management Director, said Friday there is no data that shows a lessening of coronavirus cases locally in the past week or two.
Twice in the past two weeks, York County has had more than 100 cases in a single day, and Thursday had more than 90 cases, Haynes said.
“Unfortunately we seem to be in the same situation as much of the rest of the country, where cases remain high,” Haynes said.
Haynes said York County officials remain in contact with DHEC health experts about York County’s rates of COVID-19 infection and positive cases, but there is no one reason that points to the higher numbers.
“What we can do as a community is continue to wear masks and practice social distancing,” Haynes said.
Darren Player, Lancaster County Emergency Management Director, said while Lancaster County has had 20-plus cases most days this week, the numbers have not risen to the levels of surrounding counties such as York and Mecklenburg County, N.C.
The higher numbers than in June and May are likely a result of more testing coupled with community spread, Player said.
“It has got to be a combination of both,” Player said.
Test sites
The state has 182 permanent test facilities and another 75 mobile testing events planned through Aug. 15. Steele Hill AME Zion Church in Lancaster County hosted one Friday. Chester County Government Complex in Chester County will host another Aug. 8.
Hospital beds
There are 4,744 of 8,654 available hospital beds in use now, for an almost 65% rate. The rate of inpatient hospital beds in use statewide is almost 73%.
There are 1,668 hospital beds in use by someone who either tested positive or is under investigation for COVID-19.
The state has 1,651 ventilators, with 602 in use and 263 of them for COVID-19 patients.
Zip code cases
Earlier in the pandemic, the 29720 zip code in Lancaster County led the tri-county area in case count. In the past week the 29732 and 29730 zip codes in York County have overtaken it. The 29732 zip code now has 660 confirmed cases.
DHEC also lists numbers to show the reach that agency believes the coronavirus has on an area. Those figures, at several times the confirmed case count, represent how many people could have the virus in an area. DHEC estimates more than 4,000 people could be impacted in the 29732 zip code alone.
This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 4:25 PM.
