COVID-19 Update September 2020

We know that masks and separation are the key to slowing COVID-19. City Council has renewed the City of Sumter ordinance requiring masks three times. The current extension will be up for renewal again at our meeting on October 7.

Analysis of data by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) has established that areas with a mask ordinance are seeing a reduction in cases, while those without such a law are increasing. The data indicates that wearing a mask and avoiding close contact with others is the way to beat back COVID-19.

Keep in mind that the things we are doing to defeat COVID-19 are also likely to help keep the influenza infections down. In 2018, the last year for which I can find statistics, 882 people in SC died from “Pneumonia and Influenza”; COVID-19 has killed around 3,000 in eight months—about 75 in Sumter.  Comparatively, COVID-19 would have been the fifth largest cause of death in SC in 2018, just behind “Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease” (2,990).

Those who know the most about the coronavirus say that this crisis is not over. Please wear a mask or proper face covering every time you are in public, practice social/physical distancing, and wash your hands frequently. Let’s continue working together to keep our home and community safe and healthy.

To read the full facial mask ordinance, click here.

Thank you. 

Mayor Joe McElveen