Sumter Today: Friday, April 17 Coronavirus Update

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Seven more virus-related deaths were announced Friday afternoon, including a middle-aged Sumter County resident and an elderly patient from Lee County.

According to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, both were otherwise healthy before contracting the virus.

The other five victims included three elderly people with underlying health conditions from Florence, Richland and Lexington counties and two elderly people without other health diagnoses from Berkeley and Horry counties.

DHEC also announced 163 new COVID-19 cases Friday.

Sumter County is now at 176 residents to have tested positive and six deaths. Clarendon County is at 106 confirmed cases and six deaths, and Lee County has had 40 confirmed cases and five deaths.

There have now been 4,086 South Carolinians test positive for the virus, 116 of whom have died.