The Journal Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Vol. 116 No. 50
STARTING OFF STRONG Bobcats take down rival Daniel in opener. C1
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FULL SERVICE: Seneca Animal Hospital offers medical care, boarding, grooming. B1 WALL STREET WOES: Stocks plummet amid coronavirus fears and oil-price crash . D1 SENECA
COVID-19
DHEC: Virus in Upstate
School board OKs purchase Clemson says one in self-quarantine, awaiting test of land for new Seneca Middle THE JOURNAL STAFF
BY GREG OLIVER THE JOURNAL
SENECA — Two years of searching and negotiating with property owners came to a successful conclusion Monday night as the Oconee County School Board unanimously approved the purchase of nearly 44 acres for just less than $18 million. The new Seneca Middle School will be built there. “This has been a long process, but we feel like now we see the light at the end of the tunnel,” associate superintendent of administration Steve Hanvey said. Although other sites had been considered, Hanvey Hanvey said the four parcels of land provided the most positives for a new middle school. “This is the best piece of property to give us a new Seneca Middle School — best proximity to the high school, sidewalks on both sides and access to the (three) elementary schools,” he said. “We don’t think you can make a better choice as far as a middle school.” The site is located approximately a mile from Seneca High School along Wells Highway. With the location being on Wells Highway, district officials say there will be very little road improvement needed due to the fact it is already a five-lane road. Officials added that site work, including grading, would also be limited since the parcel is “relatively level.” Hanvey said the site has already been soil tested and approved by DHEC, and has also received the SEE LAND, PAGE A5
ASSOCIATED PRESS
An information sheet on the new coronavirus is posted in the lobby of the South Shore Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center in Rockland, Mass., on Friday.
State up to seven confirmed cases THE JOURNAL STAFF
SENECA — Officials announced Sunday that a Spartanburg County man had tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the state total to seven cases confirmed by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). While the case in the Upstate is related to recent travel to Italy, according to DHEC, there is evidence of community spread in Camden, where three cases are directly tied to an elderly woman announced as a presumptive positive on Friday. A third Camden case “with no known connection” was isolated at home. “Presumptive positive”
means samples tested positive for COVID-19 at DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory. However, those results are required to be confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It takes 24-48 hours for the CDC to confirm samples after they’re received from the state. “We now have evidence of community spread that’s likely to be causing these initial cases in Camden in Kershaw County, and the risk of spread to other communities is possible, as seen in other states across the country,” state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said. “We are working with the
U.S. COVID-19 cases* Total cases: 423 Travel-related: 72 Person-to-person spread: 29 Under investigation: 322 Total deaths: 19 States reporting cases: 35
CLEMSON — Late Monday afternoon, health officials announced a “non-student” at Clemson University is in self-quarantine at an “off-campus residence” for a possible case of COVID-19. The school is working in conjunction with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, university spokesman Joe Galbraith said, and results from the test are set to come back within 24-48 hours. Many of the 385 Clemson University students studying abroad that were asked last week to return home by Sunday “are either back or are on their way back,” Galbraith said. “Both students, as well as any faculty or staff traveling overseas, are being asked to contact Redfern Health Center for screening, which has been at various levels depending on where their travels took them,” he said. “We’ll have a better picture in the coming days of how many are coming back and how many are self-isolated.” While no decisions have been made for summer and fall study abroad programs, all international travel for the university has been halted, he said. “We continue to monitor and have been planning for this as an eventuality,” Galbraith said. “We continue to communicate daily with the students, faculty and staff and make plans for any possibility.”
School districts making plans for ‘what ifs’ SENECA — Leadership teams in the school districts of Oconee and Pickens counties have begun planning for some of the
*SOURCE: CDC AS OF SUNDAY AT NOON, INDIVIDUAL STATE REPORTS MAY REFLECT MORE UP-TO-DATE NUMBERS
SEE VIRUS, PAGE A5
SEE PLANS, PAGE A5
WESTMINSTER
City identifies path to fixing water system BY RILEY MORNINGSTAR
Water loss in Westminster
THE JOURNAL
WESTMINSTER — Westminster officials have identified a preliminary plan to correct the water loss that has plagued the city for years. At Saturday’s planning retreat, city council members discussed a proposed capital improvement plan for the city’s water system, similar to what a local firm did for the Six Mile Water District in 2019.
(in millions of gallons)
2016 2017 2018 2019 Treated 854 820 786 631 Billed 476 457 441 419 Total loss 378 363 345 212 SOURCE: CITY OF WESTMINSTER
City administrator Chris Carter presented a map of Six Mile’s improvement plan, which
was outlined with cost estimates for each project in a 20-plus-item docket. Carter also unveiled a
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map of leaks and blowoffs throughout the city, which will help an engineering firm identify an improvement plan. He estimated the plan would cost $2,400. “Our plan was to take this map to Beeson-Rosier and have them do like they did for the Six Mile Water District and start identifying the improvements,” Carter said. “We had to collect that data first to be able to give it to SEE WATER, PAGE A5
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SAVANNAH BLAKE | THE JOURNAL
Water coming out of a fire hydrant feeds into a water meter before blowing off into the ground near Choestoea Creek on Doctor Johns Road in Westminster last month.
WILLIE SAYS: I’m happy to print your comments. B5
