York County deaths, soaring Lancaster and Chester cases reported in SC COVID-19 highs
Two York County deaths and hundreds of tri-county COVID-19 cases were announced on yet another record day in South Carolina.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 3,648 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday and 130 probable cases.
Brannon Traxler, interim public health director, said Friday the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered this week represents a “true light at the end of the tunnel” and a “momentous week for our country.”
Yet Traxler warns of “devastating numbers that we could be seeing in the coming days and weeks” if people don’t maintain distance, wear masks and follow other health recommendations during the holidays.
“Individual actions impact the spread of this virus,” Traxler said.
Two of the 29 confirmed or probable deaths announced Friday were in York County, listed by DHEC as between age 35 and 64. One resident died Oct. 10, the other Dec. 15.
York County had 204 new confirmed cases and five probable ones on Friday. It’s the fifth day with more than 200 confirmed cases in the county.
Lancaster County had 111 confirmed cases and a probable one Friday, higher than any other day since the pandemic started in March.
Chester County also had a record Friday with 36 confirmed cases.
Jane Kelly, assistant state epidemiologist, on Friday said although the new vaccine is a path to normalcy, South Carolina isn’t at the end of the pandemic yet.
“A return to normalcy is coming but it’s still several months away,” Kelly said.
