An invisible killer disease slipped into Lexington County last week.

This week, novel corona virus claimed its 1st victim.

The elderly Lexington Extended Care resident died in an isolation room at Lexington Medical Center.

A 2nd case of COVID-19, the disease resulting from exposure to the 1st case was identified by SCDHEC.

The disease is deceptive.

You can have it for up to 14 days before you notice symptoms. In that time, you could infect everyone you come in contact with.

Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath.

If you have symptoms, call your doctor. Don’t go to the Lexington Medical Center emergency room.

Contagion’s origin

Where did this killer come from? Intelligence leaks say it may have come from a biological war lab and spread quickly while Chinese officials hid it from the world.

Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency, kicking state laws into gear against price gouging.

His order closed the state’s public schools to protect students, teachers and staff.

Lexington County’s school districts quickly set up online learning programs and offered free breakfast and lunch for children.

Local officials closed public parks and buildings to halt the contagion’s spread.

Law enforcement, fire fighters, EMTs and health care givers braced for long hours in the weeks ahead.

Shoppers loaded grocery carts with paper towels, toilet paper, sanitizers and other products, leaving empty shelves behind them.

Restaurants, food stores and other businesses sent employees home and operated with skeleton staffs.

Worth noting

A few bright spots:

• Lexington County public and school officials acted swiftly to slow the spread and protect lives.

• People were even friendlier to each other than usual.

• Amazon plans to hire 100,000 more employees, many of them at their Lexington County distribution center, to meet an escalating demand for online delivery.

• Places of worship kept their doors open despite some health risks to comfort their congregations.

While people dream of a return to normal life, scientists are working around the clock to find a vaccine and possibly a cure.