Lancaster County has fourth coronavirus death as total cases tops 90, SC officials say
A fourth Lancaster County resident has died after contracting the coronavirus, and both York and Lancaster counties have reported two new cases of the virus, South Carolina health officials announced Tuesday.
Lancaster County Coroner Karla Knight Deese said Tuesday the patient was transported to a North Carolina hospital and died Monday. The Department of Health and Environmental Control reported the death as part of its daily count and said in a press release the resident was elderly.
The department reported 123 new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, across the state, for a total of 5,735 positive tests in all 46 counties.
Now, there have been 188 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in York County since the pandemic started, according to DHEC. Lancaster County has had 90 cases and Chester County, which did not report any new cases Tuesday, has had 27 cases, according to DHEC.
In addition to the new cases, the department announced that 14 other individuals have died in Berekely, Charleston, Clarendon, Darlington, Greenville, Horry, Lee, Richland and Sumter counties. Fourteen of the recent deaths involved elderly individuals, according to DHEC.
Based on DHEC’s count, there have been 192 coronavirus-related deaths in South Carolina. Three residents in York County and three other residents in Lancaster County have died after contracting the virus.
On Tuesday, DHEC projected that about 76% of those diagnosed with the virus have recovered.
Alston DeVenny, Mayor of Lancaster, said businesses in the city “absolutely are struggling” because of the restrictions due to the state of emergency order.
Yet, many residents have rallied to spend money at local restaurants for to-go meals and in other ways, DeVenny said.
“The people of this city really have looked out for each other,” DeVenny said.
With more than 1,000 positive cases to the north in Mecklenburg County, and more than 200 cases south in Kershaw County and nearly 200 cases west in York County, Lancaster County, which has about 8,500 people, is almost surrounded, DeVenny said.
Because of the proximity to so many cases, even with the economic effects, it seems clear that South Carolina should not rush back to re-opening too fast, DeVenny said.
“It’s just too early to tell with the numbers of cases if there is going to be a decrease soon,” DeVenny said. “This is an ongoing threat. It is still here with us. It is critical that we continue with social distancing and the ways that will slow this down.”
Chester County Supervisor Shane Stuart said the number of positive cases continue to rise statewide and despite the disruption of daily lives, social distancing guidelines are key in maintaining the public’s safety.
“One of the main key indicators for tracking this deadly virus are the daily number of confirmed positive cases and deaths which are reported by DHEC,” Stuart said. “Citizens are urged to continue to follow the social distancing guidelines and safety precautions to further prevent the possible spread of this virus.”
More than 53,000 coronavirus tests had been completed by DHEC’s public lab and private labs in the state as of Monday, and roughly 11% of tests have come back positive, according to the department.
New projections released Tuesday by DHEC show that there is a good number of cases unreported in the area. The department calculated that there are up to 1,155 unidentified cases in York County. DHEC estimated Lancaster County has as many as 553 unidentified cases, and Chester County has up to 166 unidentified cases.
According to its website, DHEC calculates the 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 Monday night, there are cases in the following York County ZIP codes:
- 29704 - 2
- 29708 - 22
- 29710 - 33
- 29715 - 31
- 29717 - 2
- 29730 - 33
- 29732 - 52
- 29745 - 10
There are cases in the following Lancaster County ZIP codes:
- 29058 - 4
- 29067 - 7
- 29707 - 20
- 29720 - 64
There are cases in the following Chester County ZIP codes:
- 29014 - 2
- 29055 - 5
- 29706 - 13
- 29712 - 1
- 29714 - 5
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 3:36 PM.
