Laurens County COVID-19 cases up by 1
Laurens County had its first newly confirmed case of COVID-19 in more than a week with one additional case reported by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Tuesday.
Laurens County now has 58 total cases, but is still among the lowest in the state for per-capita cases with 85.93 cases per 100,000 residents. The only lower rate are in McCormick, Calhoun, Oconee and Cherokee counties.
On Tuesday, 253 additional cases were reported by DHEC after fewer than 100 cases were reported on Monday.
Since the beginning of March, state health officials have reported 10,416 confirmed cases across the state. DHEC also announced that six additional people have died due to the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 446.
The deceased included four elderly people and two young adults with underlying health conditions from Greenville and Lexington counties.
DHEC and Prisma Health provided free testing to county residents this past Saturday and Thursday at E.B. Morse Elementary School in Laurens.
State health officials hope to have 2% of the population tested by June 1 and estimate that as much as 86% of South Carolinians who have contracted the virus have not been tested or diagnosed. That number translates to 74,400 people in the state who have likely had the virus.
