Richland County Coroner: COVID-19 not listed on death certificates without a test

DHEC says only a coroner or medical examiner can make the determination if a person died from the virus

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) —One person who has seen the true impact of COVID-19 firsthand is your county’s coroner.

South Carolinas Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) says a coroner or medical examiner has the power to determine if someone’s cause of death is COVID-19.

When working on death investigations prior to the pandemic, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts told ABC Columbia his deputies never left the office without personal protective equipment, but now, he says the personal touch they give to families grieving a loss has become a little more distant.

“Quite honestly, you just have to assume that everyone you’re dealing with is potentially infected with the virus, and treat it just like that,” Watts said.

Since the pandemic began, at least 174 people in Richland County have died from COVID-19, the third largest death total in the state.

Even though DHEC says only the coroner makes the determination if somebody’s true cause of death was COVID-19, Watts says a series of criteria come into play when they identify a cause of death.

“We don’t use COVID-19 on a death certificate unless we have a positive test result. We’re not testing everyone, but if we have an individual that dies who has either been exposed to COVID-19, or according to family and friends had been symptomatic, then we test that individual before we do anything further with them to see if in fact they had COVID-19 or not,” Watts said. 

Watts says the most common groups of people he says have died from COVID-19 were elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, but he says he’s worried about what could happen in the next few months.

“We have another thing coming up and that’s flu season, and so that concerns me that we’re not only going to have COVID-19 going on, but also flu season starting, and that’s always been a situation that has affected our elderly population too, so number one, get a flu shot, and number two, protect yourself,” Watts said.

As of Tuesday, DHEC said there have been 106,574 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Carolina, with at least 2,230 deaths caused by the virus.