COVID spread increases in SC, Rock Hill area; State officials push schools to reopen
South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control reported Friday afternoon that there have been 10,423 cumulative cases of COVID-19 in the state’s public and charter schools — an increase of over 1,000 from a week ago.
These figures were reported a day after S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and state Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman held a joint press conference where they advocated for schools to return to five-day-a-week, in-person instruction.
“South Carolina cannot afford to delay going back to school any longer,” Spearman said. “Face-to-face instruction is vital for families and communities, and action has to be taken.”
Per previous reporting by The State newspaper, just over half of all schools in South Carolina, as of Thursday, offer a full five-day, in-person instructional model. Most of the other schools offer hybrid instruction.
Schools in York County, Chester County and Lancaster County largely fit this synthesis — with most elementary schools reopened fully but most middle and high schools still part-remote, part-in-person.
Here’s an analysis of the COVID-19 spread in school districts in The Herald’s coverage area.
Note: DHEC and area school districts show different cumulative COVID-19 case figures. DHEC updates its information at a different rate than The Herald’s local school districts do. Both data points are shown below.
Rock Hill Schools
DHEC data: No schools in the Rock Hill school district have reported more than five student or staff positive cases of the coronavirus in the last 30 days. The high schools continue to have the most cumulative student COVID case counts: Northwestern High (21); Rock Hill High (28) and South Pointe High (16).
District data: Thirty-five students and 16 staff have reported positive cases of COVID this week, adding to the district’s cumulative totals: 541 students (5.3%) and 307 staff (12.5%). See information in full below.
Fort Mill School District
DHEC data: Three schools have added more than five COVID cases in the past 30 days, per DHEC data: Fort Mill High (11), Nation Ford High (5) and Fort Mill Middle (7). There also are now five schools with double-digit cumulative student cases: Catawba Ridge High (11); Fort Mill High (30); Fort Mill Middle (10); Nation Ford High (29); and Springfield Elementary (10).
District data: There are 64 active student positive cases of COVID and 24 active staff cases in the FMSD, per the district’s dashboard. See the information in full below.
York School District 1
DHEC data: No school has reported five or more cases of coronavirus the last 30 days. York Comprehensive High has the most cumulative student COVID-19 cases in the district, with 13, followed by York Intermediate (9) and York Middle (6).
District data: As of Friday, 51 students and seven staff have been quarantined. Six students and two staff members have active cases of COVID, adding to the district’s student cumulative case count (162) and staff cumulative case count (81). See information in full below.
Clover School District
DHEC data: DHEC data show that Clover High School has added eight student cases of the coronavirus and Clover Middle has added five student cases in the past 30 days. Clover High now has 49 cumulative student cases and six cumulative faculty cases.
District data: Data updated Friday show that there are 11 active student COVID cases and 15 active staff COVID cases in the district. Cumulatively, over 4% of all students in the district have reported a positive test, and over 9.8% of the staff have reported a positive test. See information in full below.
Lancaster County School District
DHEC data: No school in the district has reported more than five cases of the coronavirus in the past 30 days, DHEC data show. Like last week, only a handful of schools have double-digit student cumulative cases of the coronavirus: Andrew Jackson High (11); Indian Land Elementary (12); Indian Land High (14); and Lancaster High (11).
District data: The Lancaster County School District’s online dashboard has only been updated through the week of Jan. 23-29. At that point, there had been a cumulative of 71 positive cases of the coronavirus.
Chester County School District
DHEC data: No school in the Chester County School District has added more than five coronavirus cases in the last 30 days. Lewisville High (with 10) and Chester High (with nine) have the most cumulative student cases of COVID, per DHEC data.
District data: The district added 17 cases of COVID this past week, adding to the district’s cumulative totals: 162 student coronavirus cases and 75 staff coronavirus cases.
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