BATESBURG-LEESVILLE, S.C. — Restaurants in the state of South Carolina are now moving to carryout and delivery after dine-in services were shutdown by government officials on Tuesday.
Governor Henry McMaster held a press conference on Wednesday to give an update on the coronavirus and how it's impacting the Palmetto State.
Starting on Wednesday, restaurants and bars must have closed dine in service.
The governor is encouraging and recommending curbside and takeout services at restaurants.
Many restaurant owners have been meeting together to discuss what they can do to help get through the coronavirus sitation.
Many restaurants and bars are deciding to do curbside pickup, delivery, and offer discounts to encourage folks to support local businesses.
One of the restaurants taking part in carryout services is Shealy's Bar-B-Que in Batesburg-Leesville.
Sherrie Shealy Jumper is one of the managers at the restaurant.
"This has greatly impacted our business in our community. We've obviously been taking steps while dining was still open up, up in sanitation, up in cleaning practices," said Shealy Jumper.
Shealy's is one of the restaurants who already have a carryout side available. People will be able to call in or go to their Facebook page to give orders. They will be open from 11 am until 8 pm.
"We're kind of implementing some new things with that. We're going to offer curbside pickup and curbside ordering to encourage people to come out but keep the distance and go on with what the governor has recommended," explained Shealy Jumper.
This isn't the first time they've done carryout only service.
"The silver lining to all of this is we're kind of going back to our roots. We celebrated 50 years in business last year and before we were established here, we were a roadside pickup stand. In a way it's kind of a throwback to where we all started."
The manager says the restaurant had to make the difficult decision to cut staff at this time without having the dine-in service at the restaurant.
"We don't know really what to expect because we've never been through anything like this. We're hopeful at this point and we're just uniting together as a family and we're taking it one day at a time," said Shealy Jumper.
"This is something serious and something we can't even imagine but we've been watching it closely and hoping and praying it wouldn't come to this but also understand that the safety of our customers and employees is number one priority."
Shealy Jumper believes it's important for the community to support local businesses while everyone is going through this difficult time.
"Definitely being in a small town and being a family owned business, it's very important for people to continue to support your local industry because the big boys, they'll survive through this, but we definitely need the support. We're looking out for the employees, it's not just about us."