SC schools just short of 2nd three-digit jump in COVID-19 cases this week
South Carolina’s schools on Friday came just short of reporting its second three-digit increase in COVID-19 cases this week.
S.C. K-12 schools have seen 99 new coronavirus cases since Tuesday, when cases were last reported, according to S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control data.
The 1,141 COVID-19 positive tests since school began include 808 student cases and 333 employee cases, according to the DHEC database updated Friday.
On Tuesday, DHEC announced more than 100 new COVID-19 cases across the state. The 132 cases announced this week were the largest jump since DHEC began announcing its twice-weekly school district figures on Sept 4. Last week, DHEC reported 89 new cases on Friday.
The jump came the same week some school districts in the Midlands began resuming in-person classes four days a week, including elementary schools in Lexington 1 and Lexington-Richland 5. Other districts that have been online-only, such as Richland 1 and Richland 2, announced this week that students will begin going back to class twice a week later this month.
It’s unclear how many people in K-12 schools have recovered from the virus or how many cases are “active,” metrics the University of South Carolina uses when reporting campus case numbers.
The data apply to all S.C. public, private and charter schools, the majority of which either have no cases or fewer than five cases, according to DHEC data.
The case numbers show how many students and employees who attend or work at a school have tested positive for coronavirus, but that doesn’t mean the infected person contracted COVID-19 from being at the school.
Schools that are still virtual-only may have cases listed in the DHEC database because the infected student employee may have been participating in a school sponsored event, such as sports, when they were potentially contagious.
Lexington 1
- Beechwood Middle: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Carolina Springs Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Carolina Springs Middle: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Centerville Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Forts Pond Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Gilbert Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Gilbert High: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Gilbert Middle: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Lake Murray Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Lexington Elementary: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Lexington High: 9 student cases
- Lexington Midde: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Meadow Glen Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Meadow Glen Middle: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Midway Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Pelion Elementary: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Pelion High: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Pleasant Hill Middle: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Red Bank Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- River Bluff High: 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Rocky Creek Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Saxe Gotha Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- White Knoll High: Fewer than 5 student cases
Lexington 2
- Airport High: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Brookland-Cayce Senior High: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Cayce Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Herbert A. Wood Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Pine Ridge Middle: Fewer than 5 student cases
- R.H. Fulmer Middle: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Saluda River Academy for the Arts: Fewer than 5 student cases
Lexington 3
- Batesburg-Leesville Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Batesburg-Leesville High: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Batesburg-Leesville Middle: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
Lexington 4
- Sandhills Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Sandhills Middle: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Swansea High: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Swansea High School Freshman Academy: Fewer than 5 student cases
Lexington-Richland 5
- Ballentine Elementary: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Chapin High: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Chapin Intermediate: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Chapin Middle: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Dutch Fork Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Dutch Fork Middle: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Dutch Fork High: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Irmo Elementary: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Irmo High: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Irmo Middle: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Leaphart Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Seven Oaks Elementary: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Spring Hill High: Fewer than 5 student cases
Richland 1
- A.C. Flora High: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Columbia High: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Hand Middle: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Hopkins Elementary: Fewer than 5 employee cases
Richland 2
- Catawba Trail Elementary: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Forest Lake Elementary: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- L.B. Nelson Elementary: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Muller Road Middle: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- North Springs Elementary: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Richland Northeast High: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Spring Valley High: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Windsor Elementary: Fewer than 5 faculty cases
Private schools in Richland County
- Ben Lippen: Fewer than 5 student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases
- Cardinal Newman: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Hammond: Fewer than 5 student cases
- St. Peter’s Catholic School: Fewer than 5 student cases
Private schools in Lexington County
- Arrows Academy: Fewer than 5 student cases
- Grace Christian: Fewer than 5 employee cases
- Lake Murray Baptist Church Kindergarten: Fewer than 5 student cases
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 3:00 PM.
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