Coronavirus latest: Lancaster County adds 12th death, York reports 50-plus new cases
South Carolina health officials announced Wednesday the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths reported in a single day, and a Lancaster County resident was included.
The Department of Health and Environmental reported 24 new confirmed deaths, bringing the state’s death toll to 759 since the pandemic began in March.
The Lancaster County resident who died from the virus was elderly, DHEC officials said. Based on DHEC’s count, the county has had 12 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths. Lancaster County Coroner Karla Knight Deese announced about two weeks ago that her office had confirmed 12 deaths.
In the last month, nine individuals from Lancaster County died from the virus, according to data from DHEC.
DHEC has recorded one probable death in Lancaster County. A probable death would be someone whose death certificate lists COVID-19 as a cause of death or a contributing factor, but has not received a lab test, DHEC officials said. The individual was elderly, according to DHEC.
Lancaster County added 19 new cases Wednesday, for a total of 484 in the county, which had been reporting cases in the single digits in April and May, according to DHEC.
Across the state, DHEC identified 1,497 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, pushing the overall total of infections to 37,809.
Going into the holiday weekend, state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell warned at a press conference Thursday that cases in the state began to rise significantly in May after the Memorial Day weekend, and if people are not careful on July 4, cases “could rise to the levels none of us could have previously imagined.”
“If we don’t social distance, if we don’t wear our masks, then we’re going to see more of our friends, our family members, our loved ones, who will continue to become ill, who will be hospitalized and many will die,” Bell said.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster said at the press conference that he encourages local municipalities to enforce mask or social distancing requirements, but he still refused to implement a statewide mask mandate. He said last week that requiring South Carolinians to wear a mask would be “impossible” to enforce.
“I urge the cities, I urge the municipalities — there’s 271 of them in South Carolina — a handful have issued certain mask rules, distance rules and they’ve applied penalties. I encourage them. They know their local situation. They know their local customers. They know their people. They know the business establishments...A careful consideration of restrictions is entirely appropriate.”
The city of Chester was the first municipality in the area to enact a mask requirement. On Monday, the city council members voted to pass a citywide ordinance requiring people wear face masks in public.
Chester County added four new cases, for a total of 118, according to DHEC.
The city of York will consider a mask requirement at its meeting Tuesday, officials said. If York were to pass a mask mandate, it would be the first city or town in York County to pass a requirement that people wear masks in public.
York County Council member William “Bump” Roddey still is pushing for a countywide mask requirement. He said he was encouraged by the York City Council’s plan to take up the matter on Tuesday and hopes other municipalities will do the same.
York County added 52 new cases Wednesday, according to DHEC. The county, which has added nearly 50 cases in five of the last seven days, now has had a total of 1,256 cases to date in the pandemic, according to DHEC.
On Tuesday, 7,834 tests were conducted statewide, with 19.1% having positive results, DHEC reported. Since March, labs across the state have completed 429,692 tests.
Hospitals across the state are at about 74% of capacity. Of the 7,815 beds in use across the state on Wednesday, DHEC officials said 1,160 were occupied by coronavirus patients or those who are suspected of having COVID-19.
Hospitals in York County are at 78% capacity and Lancaster County hospitals are at about 45% capacity, according to DHEC.
Cases by ZIP code
As of Tuesday night, there are cases in the following ZIP codes:
York County
- 29704 - 13
- 29708 - 157
- 29710 - 167
- 29715 - 155
- 29717 - 6
- 29730 - 285
- 29732 - 301
- 29745 - 132
Lancaster County
- 29058 - 16
- 29067 - 47
- 29707 - 85
- 29720 - 360
Chester County
- 29014 - 16
- 29055 - 47
- 29706 - 76
- 29712 - 13
- 29714 - 25
