South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has enacted a ‘Home or Work Order’ which will last for an indefinite amount of time and will see residents of the state jailed or fined if they leave their homes for reasons other than work, visiting family, exercising or “obtaining essential goods or services,” according to McMaster’s verified Twitter account.
McMaster wrote on Twitter that “[t]he list of closed businesses remains the same” which includes retail stores deemed to be “[n]on-essential,” entertainment venues, recreational/athletic centers and “[c]lose-contact service providers.”
“All retail businesses remaining open must limit customers inside to no more than [five] customers per 1,000 square feet or 20 [percent] of maximum capacity, whichever is less,” McMaster said on Twitter.
According to The State newspaper’s website, McMaster said the order comes on the heels of increased automobile traffic which he said indicates that more people were travelling and potentially spreading the virus. However, Greenville News reported on March 31 that McMaster had, at that time, declined to enact a stay-at-home order because “from the very beginning we’ve been telling people to stay home…and lots of people are staying home.”
The governor linked to the official order on the state’s website which details the new measures. According to the order — officially referred to as Executive Order No. 2020-21 — “[t]he State of South Carolina must take additional proactive action and implement further extraordinary measures to prepare for and respond to the actual, ongoing, and evolving public health threat posed by COVID-19, minimize the resulting strain on healthcare providers and resources, and otherwise respond to and mitigate the significant impacts associated with the same. In furtherance of the foregoing, and to avoid potential exposure to, and to slow the spread of, COVID-19, additional action is necessary to ensure the health, safety, security, and welfare of the people of the State of South Carolina.”
The order goes on to read that as of 5 p.m. on April 7, “any and all” residents or and visitors to South Carolina are required to limit their social interactions, to distance themselves from others and to take all precautions to avoid coming into contact with and/or spreading the COVID-19 strain of the coronavirus.
In the executive order, McMaster gives free reign to state law enforcement “to do whatever may be deemed necessary” to “maintain peace and good order.” While the language is vague, McMaster’s executive order specifically includes the authorization for law enforcement to charge those who do not fully comply with the order with a misdemeanor. If convicted, those charged will spend up to thirty days in jail and/or pay a $100 fine. McMaster’s order also allows DHEC to do as they wish “to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases and to ensure that all cases of infectious diseases are subject to proper control and treatment.”
In addition to leaving one’s home for work and obtaining essential services or goods, the order also allows for “[a]ttending religious services conducted in churches, synagogues, or other houses of worship” as well as “[t]ravelling as required by law, to include attending any court proceedings and transporting children as required by court order or custody agreement.”
McMaster’s executive order can be found in full at https://governor.sc.gov/sites/default/files/Documents/Executive-Orders/2020-04-06%20eFILED%20Executive%20Order%20No.%202020-21%20-%20Stay%20at%20Home%20or%20Work%20Order.pdf
very disappointed in the governor taking so long to shut down the state. More needs to be done. The rules need to be stricter in order to stop the spread. Everyone other than essential stores, pharmacy hospitals doctors should close down. People need to cook at home and restaurants close gown as well. Even take out. If we do this for at least 4 weeks we can slow down the spread. To many life’s are at risk.
My constitutional right are being sooo violated with this order. I hate to say this but not only are my US constitutional rights violated but look at all the State constitutional rights are grossly violated. Maybe, we as a state need to hire a lawyer who will push back on this. We are not China or Russia. We have been lied to enough and now there is talk of extending this for 18 more months! Since when have clothes become non-essential as Walmart is proposing? Does this mean I can go grocery shopping NUDE? Please, let us make sense of this stupidty. Be safe but let’s get back to normalcy.
Why can people leave their home at surfside where they live and come to upstate sc to visit girlfriend for weekend
Why can a person from surfside (myrtle beach) come to upstate sc just to visit girlfriend for weekend.
It’s about time!!!
Thank you governor!
Does this include buying flowers at Home Depot. Seems essential to all there & at Lowe’s.
You can be placed in jail for non-compliance after so many weeks of the governor’s nonaction. But they are letting nonviolent criminals out because they are afraid of being infected in jail? Someone please explain the logic
Seems like attending religious services on Easter is a bad idea, if he wants to get us through this earlier than would otherwise happen. We have canceled our Easter service.