COVID-19 cases are on the rise, but the two municipalities in Lexington County that have enacted mask mandates during the pandemic aren’t yet looking at bringing them back.

The cities of Cayce and West Columbia brought back general mask mandates for indoor public spaces in September following a spike in coronavirus case numbers and pleas from Lexington Medical Center, which said it was getting overwhelmed by COVID patients.

The mandates lasted through Oct. 10 in West Columbia and Nov. 10 in Cayce.

“I know our citizens wanted it,” Cayce Mayor Elise Partin told the Chronicle shortly after the city’s requirement ended. “Our citizens were telling us — not necessarily this most recent time, they weren’t as vocal about it. But the hospital was.”

COVID numbers at Lexington Medical are again rising sharply. On Jan. 6, the hospital reported that it had 80 patients hospitalized with the virus, including 20 in the ICU. The hospital told the Chronicle this represented roughly a quadrupling of its number of coronavirus patients within a few weeks.

The hospital reported an increase to 98 COVID patients hospitalized (21 in the ICU) on Jan. 11.

On Sept. 7, the day Cayce City Council voted to reenact its mask mandate and the day before West Columbia City Council voted to bring back its own, Lexington Medical reported 181 COVID patients, with 52 in the ICU.

“There isn’t a specific benchmark for our actions as they relate to pandemic-related ordinances,” Cayce Mayor Elise Partin told the Chronicle in a statement when asked about Lexington Medical’s spiking numbers. “Throughout the pandemic we have stayed in regular contact with the regional hospitals. Our last mask mandate was a result of them asking for our support to help lower positive cases and ease the burden on their overstressed hospitals and staff. We will continue to work together with them on any mitigations that would be helpful.”

West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles expressed a similar outlook in explaining that there hasn’t yet been any discussion about bringing the mask mandate back.

“We’re certainly not not doctors or scientists at the of the city and we’ve relied heavily on Lexington Med’s advice and requests throughout this entire pandemic,” he told the Chronicle. “They are the facility that we rely on in our community for healthcare, and this is a healthcare issue. I’m not to say that we’ve deferred to them, but we have certainly relied on their guidance. So whenever we’ve made those decisions, it’s been based upon consultation with them.”

Miles said local businesses have largely been fine with the mandate when it’s been in place.

“We have continued to consult with our local business community and see what their needs and experiences have been,” the mayor said.