SC returning to restaurants and stores faster than nearly all other states, data show

As states around the country ease their economies back open, the crowds at bars, restaurants, and retail businesses aren’t quite what they were — but few are flocking to those old haunts faster than South Carolinians, data show.

The Palmetto State is the fourth “closest to normal” in terms of business foot traffic, according to San Francisco-based data company SafeGraph, which used anonymous smartphone data for the study.

Mississippi is nearest of all to normal, followed by Wyoming and Alaska. Meanwhile, North Carolina came in at 23rd.

Hawaii, New York and Massachusetts remain the most locked down, according to the data.

The study looked at eight different categories of business, and tracked how many visitors they had each day from March 7 to May 19.

Staying afloat

South Carolina governor Henry McMaster didn’t issue his statewide “work or home” order until April 6, but already residents were avoiding bars, restaurants, movie theaters, shopping malls, and to a much lesser extent, general merchandise stores and supermarkets, according to the study.

Foot traffic plummeted pretty much across the board in mid-March, about two weeks after the first two “likely cases” of coronavirus were reported in the state.

Trips to the supermarket stayed close to normal throughout March, April and May, with the exception of a large spike which peaked March 19, when grocery stores saw about 30% more traffic than usual, data shows.

Out and about

In recent weeks, South Carolina has started allowing restaurants and bars and other businesses to reopen, as well as beaches and attractions, with social distancing guidelines in place.

Of the types of businesses tracked, most hit their lowest point in South Carolina in mid-April and have been climbing since, picking up the pace in May.

As of May 18, counter service restaurants were doing 93% of their normal business, and by May 19, sit-down dining establishments were up to nearly 78% of pre-pandemic foot traffic, according to the figures.

Bars have been slower on the mend, having recovered to roughly 55% of typical customer attendance, while coffee and snack bars are back to 87%.

Over the last two weeks, both supermarkets and general merchandise stores have been seeing more customers than they were prior to the pandemic.

Safe to reopen?

Leaders and health officials at federal and state levels have cautioned against reopening too quickly, concerned that doing so will cause new outbreaks, outlets report.

SC officials, including state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell, have expressed dismay that as restrictions have loosened, many are ignoring social distancing rules by gathering in large groups, and not wearing masks when in public, The State reported. But that hasn’t halted the reopening process.

It’s also uncertain what effect reopenings have had on the overall rate of infection.

Total coronavirus cases continue to grow, recently passing 9,000, but the daily number of cases announced don’t show a clear trend, dipping one day and surging the next, according to The State, though officials claim the curve is flattening.

Some aren’t sure it will stay that way.

“They’re sort of treating the epidemic like this wave that we’re getting is it. And it’s not,” Medical University of South Carolina Global Health professor Michael Sweat told the outlet. “This is all under very high levels of social distancing right now … (but) as soon as that gets loosened up, we’re going to have to watch real closely what happens because it could very rapidly kick off again.”

On May 1, Gov. McMaster was asked if he would issue another stay at home order if there were a significant resurgence in the state.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, and we’ll be very careful as we have been,” McMaster said. “We do not expect that to happen.”