COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Monday, Governor Henry McMaster eased restrictions on some retail stores and allowed beaches across the state to reopen in an effort to begin gradually returning cities to normal life.
"It's time to restart this economy," Senator Stephen Goldfinch said.
Goldfinch, a Republican representing much of the South Carolina coast, advocated for the beaches to return.
"Restrictions were put in place not to stop the virus because that's virtually impossible, as you know, but it was simply not to overwhelm the hospital system," Goldfinch said.
The latest data, as of April 20, from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) shows hospital beds statewide are at just over 50% capacity.
"We've reduced the burden, it seems like, but we don't want to spike again," Dr. Clay Lowder said. "I think that's our challenge as we go."
Lowder runs Colonial Healthcare, an urgent care clinic based in Sumter. After weeks of helping patients, he took to Facebook to share some positive news.
"Seems to be slowing down a little bit and that's great news and we really have a lot of hope that we're busting this curve a little bit and getting this thing to calm down, but it's still not over," Lowder said.
As more businesses open, fear of a spike in new cases sparked much debate with some local business owners worried about the future.
Tim Smith owns Papa Jazz Record Shoppe in Columbia's Five Points District.
"If we just have to close again in another few weeks because this isn't over it's going to be a lot worse," Smith said. "I don't think any employee feels comfortable going full-steam ahead this soon, so we'll probably just continue what we've been doing for at least another week and then reassess then."
City of Columbia leaders plan to discuss the slow reopening of the state during a meeting on Tuesday.
"We have to see what the order looks like and, if it's something that we believe is going to harm public health and potential cost more lives, then I wouldn't rule out that we would act in a different way," Benjamin said in an earlier interview.
From the national to the state and local level, leaders agree that a steady decline in new cases is key to reopening businesses and government.
For general questions about COVID-19 visit the DHEC website at scdhec.gov/COVID19 or the CDC website here.