Coronavirus cases rise by 267 in South Carolina K-12 schools, per DHEC data

South Carolina’s K-12 schools have seen 267 new coronavirus cases in schools since data were last reported Friday, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in K-12 schools since school started to 3,271. Thus far, the majority of those cases, 2,287, have been students and the remaining 984 have been school district employees, DHEC data show.

The data apply to all SC public, private and charter schools.

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.

Lexington 1 — which recently announced students will do virtual-only classes on the Mondays and Tuesdays before Thanksgiving break and Christmas break — has been hit particularly hard compared to other Midlands school districts.

At White Knoll High School, 19 students and no employees have tested positive for coronavirus in the last 30 days, according to DHEC data. That’s more than any other school in Lexington or Richland County.

At River Bluff High, also a Lexington 1 school, at least eight students or teachers have tested positive in the last 30 days, DHEC data show. Of the 32 schools in Lexington 1, 24 have had students or employees test positive in the last 30 days, DHEC data show.

In comparison, no school in Lexington 2, Lexington 3, Lexington 4, Lexington-Richland 5, Richland 1 or Richland 2 has had more than 10 cases since school began, DHEC data show.

Lexington 1 and Lexington-Richland 5 were among the first large districts in Lexington and Richland Counties to start phasing in in-person classes, in early October. In contrast, Richland 1 waited until later in October to resume some in-person classes and Richland 2 waited until Nov. 4 to resume some in-person classes.

This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 10:41 AM.