note: This is a developing story that will be updated throughout the day with the latest news about the coronavirus pandemic and its effects in upstate South Carolina.
Map of coronavirus SC: An analysis of COVID-19 cases by county and postal code
DHEC announces Thursday numbers
Today, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced 740 new confirmed cases and 41 new probable cases of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, 27 additional confirmed deaths and 1 probable new death.
The total number of individual test results reported to DHEC yesterday across the state was 6,294 (not including antibody tests) and the positive percentage was 11.8%.
How to track COVID-19 cases at local universities
Residents can track COVID-19 cases of students and staff at public and private universities in the interior of the state by accessing their coronavirus panels, according to school websites.
Anderson, which has about 3,000 students, has 13 active cases of the coronavirus. The private Christian college does not say whether the cases belong to students or staff. Access your dashboard, which is updated weekly, here: https://andersonuniversity.edu/journey-ahead/dashboard
Furman University reported 13 new student cases on Sunday, according to their website. Since the beginning of the tests, there have been 49 cases of students and zero cases of employees. Access the weekly updated dashboard here: https://www.furman.edu/furman-focused/health-resources/covid-19-dashboard/
Wofford College in Spartanburg reported 18 cases of COVID-19 this month, the panel says. In August, there were 10 cases. Communications officer Dudley Brown told The Greenville News that they quarantined some students on campus, but did not say how many. The panel is updated weekly, does not differentiate between students and employees and can be found here: https://www.wofford.edu/coronavirus
Clemson University updates test results every Friday on its website: https://www.clemson.edu/covid-19/testing/dashboard.html There have been more than 1,200 cases in students and staff since testing began in June.
North Greenville University updates your test data weekly. According to its website, there were 20 cases in total, 13 of which were recovered. Find the full panel here: https://www.ngu.edu/ngustrong.php
In Bob Jones University, there are three students and an employee currently isolated because of the virus, according to the website. Find this information, which is updated weekly, here: https://today.bju.edu/campuslifeplan/
CVS opening new COVID-19 test sites in SC
CVS Health announced on Thursday that it is opening seven new COVID-19 test sites in South Carolina. The drive-thru sites will open on Friday.
Patients must register in advance with CVS.com to schedule an appointment, a statement said. Children age 12 and older can now take the test after a parent or legal guardian registers them online. Patients aged 12 to 15 years must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian when they come for the test.
Here are the SC locations that open Friday:
- Pharmacy CVS, 222 South Main Street, Belton, SC 29627
- Pharmacy CVS, 500 Knox Abbott Drive, Cayce, SC 29033
- Pharmacy CVS, 2501 Second Loop Road, Florence, SC 29501
- Pharmacy CVS, 2195 Magnolia Street, Orangeburg, SC 29115
- Pharmacy CVS, 87 Garner Road, Spartanburg, SC 29303
- Pharmacy CVS, 6160 Wade Hampton Boulevard, Taylors, SC 29687
- Pharmacy CVS, 2908 Emmanuel Church Road, West Columbia, SC 29002
Unemployment insurance claims for the first time in SC, Upstate
New claims for unemployment insurance fell last week in South Carolina and upstate.
The SC Department of Employment and Workforce announced on Thursday that 4,283 people filed their initial claim for unemployment insurance last week, a reduction of 830 initial claims from the previous week.
In the past 26 weeks, the total number of initial complaints across the state is 739,643.
In Spartanburg County, there were 213 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending September 12, up from 294 the previous week.
Greenville County saw 418 initial complaints last week, down from 458 the week before.
Cherokee County reported 38 complaints for the first time last week, down from 64 the week before; Union County saw 27, against 32; Pickens County saw 77, below 110; and Anderson County saw 130 complaints for the first time last week, compared with 156 the week before.
“Initial complaints had another significant drop,” said DEW Chief Executive Dan Ellzey in a press release. “While we are still looking at initial claims that are double what they were during pre-COVID, our state continues to recover.”
The agency has paid more than $ 4 billion in state and federal benefits since mid-March.
Greenville County School District is having problems with Google Classroom
Greenville County schools notified parents of a Google Classroom outage on Thursday morning.
The district said the disruption was not limited to Greenville, but affected other districts as well.
A letter to the parents said that Google support was notified and was working on the problem.
Prisma Health closes COVID-19 test sites because of climate
Prisma Health closed several of its COVID-19 test sites on Thursday due to heavy rain. All seven test sites at the hospital were canceled for Thursday and Friday, a note on the Prisma Health website said.
To find test sites that are open, visit https://scdhec.gov/infectious-diseases/viruses/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/find-covid-19-testing-location
Greenville Cue site temporarily closes after employee tests positive
Local Cue, a bar and restaurant near Haywood Road in Greenville, announced on Tuesday that it would suspend all operations as a precaution after an employee tested positive for COVID-19 “out of our business”.
In a Facebook post, the company expressed that although it is allowed to remain open according to SCDHEC guidelines, “we feel it is our duty to be responsible and we have chosen to suspend operations at this time to sanitize our restaurant and ensure that we have an environment safer for our customers and employees. “
The reopening date was not informed.
Here’s what to know Thursday
- United Community Bank announced on Wednesday that it is reopening lobbies at additional agencies in its five states, starting this week.
- The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced on Wednesday 489 new confirmed cases and 28 additional confirmed deaths.
- Greenville County schools have changed their attendance plan to allow more students in classrooms, even when the spread of COVID-19 is high in the county.