100 DC-area teens sick with coronavirus after Myrtle Beach trip, Virginia official says
About 100 teens from Washington, D.C., have tested positive for coronavirus after a trip to Myrtle Beach, a Virginia official confirmed.
Loudoun County, Virginia, Health Director David Goodfriend said the area has seen triple-digit cases after a recent trip to South Carolina.
Goodfriend added he reached out to Myrtle Beach City Manager John Pedersen over the weekend to express concerns over the city “allowing 40 or more people to share a house, and for them to hold parties of over 100 people in that house.” He has yet to receive a response.
Pedersen wrote in an email to The Sun News that the city receives at least 75 emails a day from people with their opinions on requiring face masks.
“Most, including Dr. Goodfriend’s, are an expression of opinion and do not pose a question to be addressed. I do not respond to these, but take their opinion under advisement,” Pedersen wrote.
He also noted that the city does not have many vacation homes and doubts the visitors were staying in city limits.
The City Council has a meeting scheduled for Thursday to discuss a possible mask ordinance.
Loudoun County joins a list of areas seeing outbreaks tied back to recent trips to Myrtle Beach. Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio, eastern Virginia and West Virginia have all publicly acknowledged cases after visits to South Carolina beaches.
Some states have issued quarantine orders for people if they were recently in South Carolina. Palmetto State health officials advised that anyone who has been to the beach get a COVID-19 test.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 8:58 AM.
