KERSHAW, S.C. — A South Carolina coroner has confirmed the death of a teenager from COVID-19.
According to Chief Deputy Coroner Jennifer Collins with the Lancaster County Coroner's Office, the victim was a 16-year-old resident of the county who succumbed to the virus on Thursday.
Due to the victims' age, the coroner's office did not release the victim's name and it's unclear if they had any pre-existing conditions that would have made them more susceptible to the virus.
Sister station WCNC in Charlotte spoke to the Lancaster County School District to see if the teen was a student. The district confirmed the teen was a student at Andrew Jackson High School and offered this statement:
We are saddened to learn of the passing of a 16-year-old Andrew Jackson High student from COVID complications. Counselors are available to staff and will also be available to students on the first day of school, Monday, August 16, and through the week. The district continues to follow guidance from the CDC and SC DHEC. It is the district’s priority to keep students safe. Our thoughts and prayers are with the student’s family.
According to data from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Lancaster County has followed the trend of increased COVID cases over the last month.
As of Wednesday, DHEC reports the county had confirmed 11,742 cases since the start of the pandemic along with 407 hospitalizations and 176 deaths.
State data for the county shows that the youngest death reported in the county since the start of the pandemic is also 16. Deaths between the ages of 11 and 20 comprise less than .1% of the total there.
Over 40 percent of those who have died from COVID in Lancaster County were older than 81 according to the same data. More than half of those who have died from COVID there have been white and have been women.