| Greenville News
note: This story was edited on April 11, 2020, to correct the location of Kerhsaw County in South Carolina.
Kershaw County has one of the highest per capita rates of coronavirus cases in the United States, according to data analysis from the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 screening project.
Kershaw County ranks 84th among US counties in the study that looked at infection rates per 100,000 residents.
There are an additional 3,100 counties or equivalent counties in the country, making Kershaw County one of the top 3% of infections per capita.
Located northeast of Columbia, Kershaw County is home to 64,361 people, making it representative of just 1% of the population of the state of Palmetto.
Coronavirus updates in SC: DHEC reports 12 more deaths, 139 new cases
There were 159 confirmed cases in the county of about 750 square miles on Wednesday, according to data published on Wednesday morning.
New York County leads the ranking with almost 5,011 cases per 100,000 people. But it’s not just counties with big cities with high rates: Blaine County, Idaho, with a population of about 21,000, is fourth in the country. Randolph County, Georgia, is the smallest area in the top 10, with 82 cases and a population of around 7,000.
Kershaw County was home to the first confirmed cases of coronavirus in South Carolina on March 7. That day, it was one of about 500 diagnoses in the United States. As of Wednesday afternoon, Americans are battling 420,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Greenville News traveled to Kershaw County, when it was home to 35% of the state’s cases. The community’s response, as well as its history of resilience, was documented in a March 20 report.
More: The epicenter of the coronavirus in SC is an old and proud place that faces an uncertain challenge
As of 3:30 pm on Wednesday, South Carolina health officials confirmed 2,552 cases across the state, with 165 identified in Kershaw County, the fifth largest in the state.
Its neighbor, Richland County, has the majority of cases – 372 – in South Carolina. Richland County is home to Columbia – and more than six times as many inhabitants as Kershaw County.
On Wednesday, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control also released updated estimates of possible cases for each county and CEP.
For Kershaw County, there are 1,118 possible cases, not exactly seven times more than the confirmed cases.