Coronavirus latest: 45 new York County cases, Fort Mill mask enforcement starts
York County added 45 new positive coronavirus cases Wednesday, state health officials said.
York County now has had 1,615 COVID-19 cases, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Lancaster County added five cases Wednesday and now has a total of 567, DHEC officials said. Chester County added five new cases and has had 239 residents test positive.
The most recent case report came on the same day that Fort Mill’s mandate for masks to be worn in public places took effect.
On Monday, Rock Hill and Fort Mill passed emergency measures requiring residents to wear masks in public for the next two months.
Fort Mill’s measure requires face coverings when inside any food, retail or service establishments, or government offices, which are within town limits. The move impacts use of restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, commercial retail and service businesses such as salons and barber shops.
Fort Mill Police Department Maj. Bryan Zachary said Wednesday when the department’s officers come across a violation, they will first tell the person about the requirement and ask the person or persons to adhere to the new ordinance.
“We want to ensure that people know about this emergency rule,” Zachary said. ‘There is always the possibility that people do not know about it, or are from another place.”
Zachary said a written warning would be the second course of action, then a written citation if a person failed to comply after the warning.
No citations were issued as of Wednesday afternoon, Zachary said.
Officers are not seeking out potential violators, Zachary said. Officers will act if they observe someone in possible violation of the mask mandate, and will respond to calls from the public if a violation is reported, Zachary said.
Violations that end up with citations could be between $25 and $100, according to the town ordinance. Repeated violations could result in suspended or revoked occupancy permits or business licenses.
Rock Hill’s mask mandate takes effect Friday.
York and Clover are expected to vote on similar measures July 13.
At its meeting Tuesday night, York City Council discussed and prepared to approve a mask requirement on July 13. Clover has yet to discuss or vote on a mask mandate, but Mayor Greg Holmes said he supports a mask requirement and will push for it July 13 at the Clover Town Council meeting.
It remains unclear what effect mask mandates will have on positive cases. But officials are hoping the case counts will drop.
York County Emergency Management Director Chuck Haynes said that county officials are hopeful that positive Covid-19 case numbers will start to slow with increased mask use and continued social distancing.
“We are hopeful that we will see a downward trend,” Haynes said.
State wide statistics
Across the state, DHEC identified 1,537 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, bringing the state’s overall total of infections to 48,770 officials said.
In South Carolina, 38 more people have died after contracting COVID-19, according to DHEC officials. In all, 876 South Carolinians have died after contracting the virus.
As of Wednesday, 2,587 inpatient hospital beds are available in the state and 7,991 are in use, giving a 75.54% statewide hospital bed utilization rate. 1,404 of those hospital beds are in use by Covid patients, DHEC stated.
Nursing homes and extended care
DHEC has released data through Tuesday that shows resident and staff COVID-19 cases at nursing home and extended care facilities.
Two-hundred-ten facilities statewide reported at least one case since April 3. There have been 2,077 positive tests among residents and 992 among staff. There have been 376 resident and five staff deaths from coronavirus.
The counties of York, Lancaster and Chester have 17 facilities on the list. There are nine facilities in Rock Hill, three in Lancaster and one each in Chester, Fort Lawn, Great Falls, Tega Cay and York. They respectively combine for 104 resident and 63 staff positive tests.
Yet most sites have only a handful of reported cases. A Lancaster facility accounts for more than half of the resident cases, while that same facility and one more in Rock Hill account for 62 percent of staff cases.
The tri-county sites reported 16 deaths — eight of them from the same Lancaster site — among residents. There haven’t been any staff deaths reported.
A separate list from DHEC shows the same data, but for the past 30 days. Statewide, there are 123 facilities that reported 455 resident and 210 staff positive cases. Those figures include 57 resident and three staff deaths.
Eight tri-county facilities report 43 resident and 15 staff positives, and six resident deaths.
Cases by ZIP code
As of Tuesday night, there are cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
▪ 29704 - 20
▪ 29708 - 191
▪ 29710 - 205
▪ 29715 - 211
▪ 29717 - 9
▪ 29730 - 376
▪ 29732 - 365
▪ 29745 - 191
Lancaster County
▪ 29058 - 17
▪ 29067 - 52
▪ 29707 - 108
▪ 29720 - 420
Chester County
▪ 29014 - 17
▪ 29055 - 49
▪ 29706 - 1112
▪ 29712 - 14
▪ 29714 - 32
