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USC crowd, businesses come out on top for following safety guidelines

Saturday was USC's first home game since the coronavirus hit and fire chief says it went, "pretty good".

COLUMBIA, S.C. — USC faced Tennessee Saturday night for the first game of the Gamecock season. 

Though they didn't come out on top, fans were out cheering on the Gamecocks. 

We checked in with Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey D. Jenkins to see if safety protocols were still being met, "I would say for the most part, on the inside of places, it went pretty good," Chief Jenkins says. 

“Obviously we get calls for certain crowds just gathering," continues Chief Jenkins, "In particular, we went down to the Five Points area yesterday [Saturday]  just before the game started and just wanted to make sure that folks that were gathering in front of those clubs had their masks on.

For most places, that was the biggest issue according to Jenkins- people gathering outside bars waiting to get in with no masks and social distancing.

Chief Jenkins noted, “one thing that does concern me even on the inside is the people that are drinking- I think that they just think well we’re immune to the virus if we’re drinking. Well, you still have to practice social distancing because you could still pass it on.”

Chief Jenkins says he didn’t issue any tickets Saturday because it was more of an educational day for fans and his team, “we’ve got to make sure we’re educating people – hey this thing is still real, you still gotta have your mask on, and we’re probably going to do more enforcement on this than we normally doing because to me the education part is over.”

Chief Jenkins said inside the stadium, people were doing what they were supposed to be doing for the most part.

The Gamecocks lost to the Volunteers 31-24 and will take on the Florida Gators next weekend in Gainsville. 

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