For the first time in the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Henry McMaster issued an order to loosen a restriction that was previously set to stop the spread of the virus.
The South Carolina governor issued an order Thursday to reopen public boat ramps and said he wants people to go fishing and be out on the water again, as long as they are careful and keep practicing social distancing.
“It’s a small step, but it’s a step and there will be more,” McMaster said of the new order.
Despite the state reporting an additional 276 coronavirus cases on Thursday, McMaster remained positive about the state’s progress fighting the spread of the disease.
In Thursday’s press conference, McMaster said “the end is in sight” of the coronavirus pandemic, but urged that we aren’t out of the woods yet. He said he doesn’t have a specific timeline, but he hopes to see businesses opening back up in May.
“By the end of June, we expect our economy to humming,” McMaster said.
He said he “sees no reason” to postpone the June 9 statewide primaries.
“We expect things to be moving along very well by (June),” McMaster said.
Earlier Thursday, McMaster sent a letter to South Carolina lawmakers announcing his intention to call the General Assemble back to the statehouse to accomplish the business they failed to accomplish last week. He said he expects the General Assembly to meet again before the end of June in order to keep the economy up and running.
He said it wouldn’t be safe for lawmakers to meet again in early May as the deadline calls for, but they should be able to safely meet sometime in June.
At Thursday’s press conference, McMaster said he will announce an initiative called Accelerate South Carolina that will include business leaders from industries such as tourism, manufacturing, agriculture, as well as political leaders.
“We will come up with the best practices to get business humming again as quickly as possible in South Carolina,” McMaster said.
In the four weeks since the coronavirus first began impacting employment, 268,614 South Carolinians have filed for unemployment.
Officials at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) said Wednesday there is evidence that social distancing “has reduced the growth of new cases substantially” in the last three weeks.
In a news release, MUSC officials said they expect a surge in COVID-19 patients in the next few weeks, but that surge isn’t expected to overwhelm MUSC hospital resources.
Hospital officials urged that now is not the time to let up on social distancing practicing.
“Vigilance is needed to assure that the COVID-19 transmission remains controlled,” MUSC officials said in a news release. “If social distancing is reduced now, new cases could grow quickly.
On Sunday, McMaster issued an order to extend the state of emergency for another fifteen days.
“All previous orders remain in place for the duration of the emergency, or until the governor announces otherwise,” the governor’s office tweeted on Sunday.
One week ago Monday, McMaster issued a “home-or-work” executive order, which said South Carolinians must not leave their homes unless working, recreating outdoors, seeing family, or obtaining necessary goods or services.
Gov. Henry McMaster has issued the following orders, punishable by law enforcement:
- Schools closed through at least April 30 (March 15)
- Restaurants and bars only open for carry-out services (March 17)
- Illegal for groups of 3 or more gathered in a public place (March 21)
- Mandatory 14-day quarantine for visitors from coronavirus hotspots (March 27)
- Public access to all beaches closed (March 30)
- Non-essential businesses closed (March 31)
- More non-essential business closures + banning rentals to NY tri-state area (April 3)
In total, South Carolina has had 3,931 coronavirus cases and 109 deaths since the Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) first started tracking the virus in early March.
As of Wednesday, South Carolina ranked 38th in the nation for coronavirus testing per capita.
SCDHEC recently released cases-per-capita data. Kershaw County — the first epicenter for the virus in South Carolina — has the highest cases per 100,00 people.
SCDHEC predicts that South Carolina will have seen a total of 8,677 cases by May 2.
According to the latest projections from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in Seattle, Washington, 680 South Carolinians are expected to die from COVID-19. However, the model projects that nearly three times that amount of people — 2,042 — could die from the virus by August.
IHME predicts COVID-19 will hit its peak in South Carolina between April 30 and May 2.
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