Lancaster County probation employee tests positive for coronavirus, SC officials say
A Lancaster County employee of South Carolina’s probation department has tested positive for coronavirus, officials said.
The employee is now self-isolating in quarantine, said Pete O’Boyle, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services.
It remains unclear how the employee contracted the disease, O’Boyle said. Officials with the agency identified people the employee was near and notified them, O’Boyle said.
“The department identified that employee’s ‘close contacts,’ if any, as determined under current CDC guidelines,” O’Boyle said. “Any such contacts were notified and were advised to follow CDC guidelines and contact a doctor if they had any questions.”
Lancaster County has more than 60 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Lancaster County Emergency Management Director Darren Player said he was made aware of the probation employee’s positive test. Lancaster Police Department and Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office officials have not reported any positive cases.
Probation department
The South Carolina department monitors and oversees people under state supervision, according to its website. The state had more than 17,000 people come under under new supervision in fiscal year 2019, according to the agency’s 2019 annual report.
The department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services had over 28,000 people being monitored or supervised as of the end of first quarter in 2020, according to O’Boyle.
Lancaster County has more than 300 offenders in its supervision system, agency figures show.
The positive test is the only one for a probation, parole and pardon services employee in the state, O’Boyle said.
The agency discontinued in-person probation and supervision visits in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the agency’s website. The agency has limited access to probation offices, officials said.
The positive test for an employee of a law enforcement agency is the fifth such case in York and Lancaster counties, police officials said.
Last week, two Rock Hill Police Department officers tested positive for the virus and were quarantined at home, officials said.
Clover Police Chief Randy Grice confirmed that an officer tested positive for the virus and the officer was quarantined at home.
York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said an employee with the agency tested positive and was one of five employees quarantined.
As of Sunday morning, York County has 127 confirmed cases of the virus, according to DHEC. Lancaster County has 62 cases and Chester County has 18 cases. Three people in York County have died after contracting the coronavirus, according to DHEC.
This story was originally published April 12, 2020 at 12:52 PM.
