York County has first coronavirus death and 13 new cases reported; SC total passes 1,000
A York County resident has died after contracting the coronavirus, South Carolina health officials announced Tuesday afternoon.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control also announced three other individuals in Aiken, Calhoun and Marion counties died. Three patients were elderly with underlying health conditions and one patient was a middle-aged individual with no underlying health conditions.
York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said the county’s death was one of the older individuals with underlying health conditions.
DHEC did not provide further information on York County’s first COVID-19 death.
Additionally, 13 new cases were reported in York County Tuesday, bringing the county total to 56. One new case was reported in Lancaster County, which now has 15 cases, according to DHEC. No new cases were reported in Chester County.
State health officials reported 158 new cases of the virus across the state, for a total of 1,083 cases in 42 counties. In all, 22 people in the state have died after contracting the coronavirus.
York County Emergency Management Director Chuck Haynes said the first death of a York County resident is a grim reminder of how dangerous the virus can be.
“This is the ugly side of this pandemic and unfortunately, we now have a person who has passed away,” Haynes said.
The new York County cases released Tuesday that pushes the total over 50 shows that the public needs to continue to be vigilant in protecting themselves, and others, by staying home as much as possible, Haynes said.
Haynes reiterated the need for all residents to observe the social distancing and hygiene guidelines from DHEC and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
York County Council Chairman Michael Johnson expressed his condolences for the first death of a York County resident related to coronavirus. Johnson said York County does not have the authority to issue a stay-at-home order but asked all residents to do just that.
“While York County officials do not have the authority to declare a shelter-in-place, I want to urge everyone in York County to stay home if the can,” Johnson said. “We need to be good neighbors right now and that means staying at home and not exposing yourself or others to COVID-19.”
Johnson reiterated concerns he and others have had for weeks about getting detailed information on positive cases to first responders and other top officials to protect the public.
“As this continues to worsen, I want to renew my call for DHEC to release more information regarding these cases to the county and law enforcement,” Johnson said. “We need our first responders to be safe as they go about their jobs. We need to know exactly who is sick and where they are so we can help them and protect our first responders at the same time.”
On Friday, DHEC released information on ZIP codes with positive cases to county officials and to the public. The ZIP codes were updated Tuesday afternoon.
In a statement to The Herald Tuesday, DHEC said it will continue to provide ZIP codes to county officials, but the amount of information DHEC can share publicly is limited.
“The department is in the process of overhauling its COVID-19 webpage, and as part of that revamping, we’re working on the most appropriate way to provide positive case information publicly while also protecting individual privacy, as required by state and federal laws,” the statement said.
As of Monday night, there were 55 COVID-19 cases in the following York County ZIP codes:
- 29707
- 29708
- 29710
- 29715
- 29730
- 29732
- 29745
Chester County’s two case are in ZIP codes 29706 and 29712, according to DHEC. Fourteen of Lancaster County’s cases are in ZIP codes 29058, 29067, 29707 and 29720.
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 5:17 PM.
