SC tops 1,000 student COVID cases. The latest for Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, York.
South Carolina schools added more than 200 COVID-19 cases on Friday, including for the first time more than 1,000 student cases.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control began school coronavirus reporting in early September. DHEC updates data twice weekly. The jump of 206 cases from Tuesday to Friday is about twice what any other three- or four-day update has shown.
There are now 1,483 COVID-19 cases in schools. There are 1,038 student and 445 staff cases. Those cases are cumulative, since the start of school. They’re up from the report on Tuesday of 1,277 cases (906 students and 371 staff).
Three York, Lancaster of Chester county schools appeared on the DHEC listing Friday for the first time. Gold Hill Middle School and Sugar Creek Elementary School in Fort Mill joined Clinton Elementary School from Lancaster County.
Rock Hill schools
The Rock Hill School District online dashboard updates daily. It shows current week and cumulative cases since school began.
The list Friday shows six new student and two new staff positive this week, with 70 students and 13 staff in either isolation or quarantine.
Since Sept. 8, there have been 26 student and 15 staff positives. There have been 404 students and 88 staff (between 3 and 4% of those in school) in either isolation or quarantine.
Student positive tests are at Northwestern (6), South Pointe (5) and Rock Hill (2) high schools; Saluda Trail (4), Castle Heights, Dutchman Creek, and Sullivan middle schools; Lesslie (2), India Hook, Rosewood and York Road elementary schools; and Central CDC.
Staff positives are at South Pointe (2), Northwestern and Rock Hill; Dutchman Creek and Saluda Trail; Mount Gallant (2), Cherry Park, India Hook and Mount Holly elementary schools; and the Flexible Learning Center and Central CDC.
Fort Mill schools
A Fort Mill School District online listing updates each Friday. The Fort Mill site lists only active cases.
Friday shows six student (down from 10 a week ago) and nine staff (up from three) positives.
Fort Mill and Nation Ford high schools each have one student positive, as do Fort Mill and Gold Hill middle schools. Kings Town and River Trail elementary schools have one each.
Staff positives are at Mill High and district transportation (two each); Catawba Ridge High School; Banks Trail Middle School; and Gold Hill, Pleasant Knoll and Sugar Creek elementary school.
The district also has 86 students and 20 staff in quarantine.
Clover schools
As of Friday afternoon there are four active student and two active staff positives in the Clover School District. None involve Clover High School, said district public information officer Bryan Dillon.
One of the largest schools in the state, Clover High has had the largest number of cumulative cases since school began. There have been more than 40 cases among either students or staff.
COVID inYork schools
The York School District updates its online listing Tuesdays and Fridays, with both active and cumulative coronavirus cases since Aug. 17.
The listing Friday afternoon shows two active student and one active staff cases. The district has cumulative cases, at nine students and five staff. Active cases are at York Comprehensive High School and Cotton Belt Elementary School. Cumulative cases also are at York Intermediate School, Jefferson and Harold C. Johnson elementary schools and district support services.
Lancaster County schools
In the Lancaster County School District, a dashboard updates weekly but doesn’t list cases by school. The listing Friday showed nine positive tests and 184 in quarantine among students and staff, for the week ending Oct. 10.
Chester County schools
The Chester County School District updates its online dashboard daily. On Friday afternoon it showed nine student and eight staff positives this school year. Total COVID-19 cases are at Lewisville Elementary School (4); Chester High School (3); Chester Park ARTS, Chester Park COLT, Chester Middle School and Lewisville High School (two each); the Great Falls Complex and other district personnel.
DHEC school COVID data
DHEC updates its statewide listing on Tuesdays and Fridays. Figures can vary from what individual districts report due to timing of cases or which group reports them. DHEC figures are cumulative since the start of school.
This year, 51 of 111 public and private school facilities in York, Lancaster and Chester counties have reported at least one COVID-19 case.
York, Lancaster, Chester COVID cases
DHEC also released its latest daily figures for coronavirus spread on Friday afternoon.
There were 38 confirmed and three probable cases in York County. Lancaster County had 14 confirmed cases. Chester County had seven confirmed cases.
Statewide there were 897 new confirmed and 76 probable cases announced Friday. There were five confirmed and three probable deaths.
To date there have been more than 160,000 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases in South Carolina. There have been 3,405 confirmed and 210 probable deaths.
Coronavirus vaccine
DHEC announced Friday its COVID-19 vaccine plan is now submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The plan is in place to provide for equitable distribution.
“Safety is the top priority in any vaccine development and no vaccine will be released until it has undergone the rigorous scientific and clinical testing that’s required as part of all vaccine development,” state epidemiologist Linda Bell said in a statement. “Scientists had already begun research for coronavirus vaccines during previous outbreaks caused by related coronaviruses, and that earlier research provided a head start for rapid development of vaccines to protect against infection.”
Supply will be limited during initial vaccine stages. Certain groups like medical workers and nursing home residents will have priority, but the vaccine should be more widely available to the public in 2021.
Home Educators are Teachers Act
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman introduced a new federal bill Friday that would extend the same tax deductions K-12 teachers receive to parents who educate their children at home. The Home Educators are Teachers Act would allow individuals who provide home-school education to be considered “eligible educators” for IRS purposes.
The tax code currently allows eligible educators to deduct up to $250 of unreimbursed educational expenses which can include books, supplies, computer equipment and other classroom items, according to a release from Norman’s office.
“Parents who educate their children at home are, in fact, teachers,” Norman said. “As such, home educators should be eligible for the same tax deductions that K-12 teachers in a traditional school are entitled to. This is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, as more and more families have chosen home schooling to help meet the educational goals they have for their children.”
Area school districts have stated that some enrolled students from before the COVID-19 shutdown didn’t return — in Fort Mill it’s about 650 students — when school returned this fall. The districts await full return to in-class education to see how many of those students may return. York and neighboring counties also have families who home-schooled prior to and through the pandemic.
CARES Act application
Gov. Henry McMaster announced Friday two new CARES Act grant programs will start taking applications Monday. The Minority and Small Business Relief Grant (up to $25,000) and Nonprofit Relief Grant (up to $50,000) programs will reimburse qualified recipients for financial or operational costs related to COVID-19.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of South Carolina’s economy, and many small businesses have been financially devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” McMaster said in a statement. “These grants will help keep the doors open at many of our small businesses and will invigorate and accelerate our economic recovery.”
The application process runs through Nov. 1. More information is available by phone at 803-670-5170 or by email at SCCares@admin.sc.gov.
