COLUMBIA, S.C. — Governor Henry McMaster is extending the current state of emergency for “obvious reasons.”
He began his latest presser with an update from Dr. Bell with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Dr. Bell says there were 528 new cases and 7 additional deaths today in the state. That’s continuing a trend of increasing cases and these are the highest numbers the agency has seen in the last two weeks.
In more of today’s numbers, the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in South Carolina is 15,759 and those who have died, 575. 4,078 people were tested for the virus on Tuesday and 12.9% tested positive.
Dr. Bell says she’s more concerned now about COVID-19 than she has been during the entire length of the pandemic.
She is emphasizing the importance of wearing a mask in public and social distancing. She says the percent positive of tests is also higher, showing more people are getting sick, not just due to an increase in testing.
Bell also singles out Greenville County as a hot spot, seeing higher numbers than other counties. She says there’s been an outbreak in the Latino community, in which DHEC is working to address.
Dr. Bell says we should ask ourselves what we can do ourselves to stop the spread of the virus. She said hard data is not needed to show that people are not social distancing or doing enough to slow the spread.
The governor says the increase in cases is a question of “individual responsibility.” He says we all need to practice social responsibility and be respectful to fellow citizens.
“It’s disappointing to see people jammed up together enjoying the warm weather,” McMaster said. “The ultimate price of this is death. It’s serious.”
“There’s a lot of stupid floating around out there,” referring to people not following CDC guidelines.
McMaster is presenting the General Assembly with a report from accelerateSC to relaunch the state’s economy. He says people “need to work. They need money to pay their bills, keep their electricity on.”
He says he can’t keep the economy closed and does not plan to shut everything down again.
The governor is asking the General Assembly to fund $500 million into the unemployment insurance trust fund. He says the fund is much lower than it was before the pandemic hit.
He’s also asking to approve $215 million for school districts to have more hours and resources for students needing help and $225 million for state agencies and first responders.
