York County adds 4 new coronavirus cases; DHEC confirms third Lancaster County death
Four new cases of coronavirus were reported in York County Monday, and Chester County’s total number of cases rose to 25, South Carolina health officials said.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 64 new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, across the state, for a total of 4,439 positive tests in all 46 counties.
Since the pandemic started, there have been 159 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in York County, according to DHEC. Lancaster County, which did not report any new cases Monday, has had 79 cases, according to DHEC.
The department confirmed Lancaster County’s third coronavirus-related death Monday. Lancaster County Coroner Karla Knight Deese announced the death Friday. According to DHEC, the patient was elderly and had underlying health ailments.
DHEC also announced Monday that three other individuals have died in Kershaw, Edgefield and Clarendon counties. Based on DHEC’s count, there have been 124 coronavirus-related deaths in South Carolina.
Three residents in York County have died after contracting the virus, according to DHEC. Chester County has not reported any deaths.
The S.C. Attorney General’s Office released a legal opinion Monday that stated county coroners do not have to release specific information about COVID-19 deaths. Coroners can continue to use their own discretion in releasing information related to the pandemic, according to the opinion.
The opinion is not part of any lawsuit demanding coroners release detailed information about COVID-19 cases. York County Coroner Sabrina Gast, who is the president of the S.C. Coroner’s Association, asked for the opinion.
Gast said since coronavirus-related deaths have become an issue, she has been asked by some media organizations to release information including name, age, address, length of hospital stay, if any, or other information related to the death.
Gast has previously declined to release information other than to confirm if a death is from COVID-19. She said the attorney general’s opinion confirms her discretion and she does not plan to release additional identifying information about coronavirus-related deaths.
Deese said she will continue to release COVID-19 deaths as the information is made available to her but does not plan to release specific information, such as patient names or street addresses.
As of Monday, more than 41,000 coronavirus tests had been completed by DHEC’s public lab and private labs in the state, and roughly 11% of tests have come back positive, according to the department.
Based on new projections, DHEC calculated that there are up to 977 unidentified cases in York County. The department estimated Lancaster County has as many as 485 unidentified cases and Chester County has up to 154 unidentified cases.
According to its website, DHEC calculates projected cases based on evidence that for every known case, there could be up to nine unidentified people with the virus.
Confirmed cases by ZIP codes
As of Sunday night, there are cases in the following York County ZIP codes:
- 29704 - 1
- 29708 - 15
- 29710 - 29
- 29715 - 28
- 29717 - 2
- 29730 - 27
- 29732 - 44
- 29745 - 9
There are cases in the following Lancaster County ZIP codes:
- 29058 - 4
- 29067 - 6
- 29707 - 16
- 29720 - 56
There are cases in the following Chester County ZIP codes:
- 29014 - 2
- 29055 - 5
- 29706 - 12
- 29712 - 1
- 29714 - 5
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 5:10 PM.
