Gov. McMaster stands by no SC mask mandates, encourages COVID vaccines as delta soars
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said Monday he will not enact any new mask mandates to protect against the spread of COVID-19 and the highly transmissible delta variant, despite a new surge of positive cases throughout the state.
McMaster, standing alone at a lectern without any health officials at his side, said the delta variant poses a new threat and spreads more easily, but mandating masks in schools or adding restrictions will not happen.
“Shutting our state down, closing schools and masking the children ... who have no choice, to protect adults who do have a choice, is the wrong thing to do, and we’re not going to do it,” McMaster said. “We’re not going to shut our state down as other states did. Mandating masks is not the answer. Personal responsibility is the answer.”
The governor’s press conference came amid a spike in positive cases especially among unvaccinated South Carolinians.
On Friday, the Department of Health and Environmental Control reported more than 3,200 new coronavirus cases and 16.3% of tests coming back positive. More than 634,000 South Carolinians have contracted the virus. More than 8,700 people in the state have been confirmed to have died from from the virus, with an additional 1,100 probable deaths from COVID, according to DHEC data.
To stop that spike, last week Columbia City Mayor Steve Benjamin put the city under a state of emergency and the City Council voted to require masks in elementary and middle schools, a move that is likely to spark a court challenge.
McMaster said the city’s ordinance is illegal because it contradicts a state law and parents should decide whether their child wears a mask in school.
But he also said it’s difficult for people to hear one another while someone’s talking and wearing a mask. As an example, he asked a masked reporter to repeat herself when he had trouble hearing her question.
State Department of Education spokesman Ryan Brown said the agency had heard plenty of concerns about mask use in schools, including those the governor raised about masking making communication in the classroom more difficult.
“If there’s a concern related to face mask use, we’ve heard it,” Brown said.
While face masks can muffle voices or make it difficult for students and teachers to read lips, schools have found ways to deal with those issues, Brown said. Workarounds include allowing teachers to remove their masks when in front of the classroom, as long as they’re an appropriate distance from the class, or having them wear clear plastic face masks so that deaf students, younger students learning to read, English language learners and children with disabilities can read their lips.
“You just got to use some common sense with it,” he said. “It was part of our policy last year, and we worked with DHEC and a little with the governor’s office to provide those alternatives in environments where mask use is going to be difficult.”
Last year, schools were forced to close amid the COVID-19 pandemic, causing virtual school enrollment to grow. But McMaster said virtual schooling did not work as well for children.
“If a parent does want to go virtual, that’s up to that parents. But we know that the virtual learning ... has not worked very well in South Carolina or anywhere else,” McMaster said. “We know because of the children being out of school for so long, we know we do not want to repeat what we went through before. There are estimates by educators and others around the country, and even around the world, who say they have some children that never will recover in the educational process because of what they went through.”
The governor, who is fully vaccinated, said others should “strongly consider getting vaccinated” because vaccines are effective and keep people from getting sick and going to the hospital. But he also called vaccines a “personal choice.”
“What I wanted to remind people is if you are going to get a vaccination, now is a great time to do it, while we’re getting ready for the fall. All the activity going on, football games are starting again, classes are starting again,” McMaster said. “Now is a great time. If you’re ready to get vaccination, go ahead and get it. Now is the time.”
He continued, “Those who are vaccinated will be in a better position than those who are not vaccinated.”
About 52% of eligible South Carolinians have received at least one shot vaccine shot, and 45% are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Decisions on whether to get vaccinated also appear to somewhat run along party lines.
A poll of 405 registered voters in the state conducted from July 23-27 by Starboard Communications, a political consulting firm in South Carolina, found 83% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans have been vaccinated. It also found 25% of Republicans said they won’t get vaccinated, while only 5% of Democrats refuse to get the shot.
McMaster did say hospitalization rates are lower than they were at this point last year, when the state’s hospital occupancy rates reached levels of 79% to 81%. He noted that current occupancy in hospitals around the state is at 77%.
McMaster said the number of people in ICUs and on ventilators today is about half as it was last year.
“We have not returned to where we were then, and we don’t want to return to where we were then,” McMaster said.
“If you listen to some of the national press and some of the, even some of the national experts, who are probably exaggerating, engaging in hyperbole unnecessarily alarming people who may think otherwise,” he said. “But the facts ... show that we’re in a different situation from that we were in last year.”
DHEC Director Edward Simmer said in a statement Monday that the agency continues to support universal masking in schools, in accordance with federal health guidelines and the latest scientific data, and encourages all South Carolinians ages 12 and older to get vaccinated.
“This is especially important as some schools have already begun the new academic year and others prepare to start,” he said, adding that several schools already have had to quarantine students and sports teams due to COVID-19 infections.
While the agency recognizes that state law prohibits mask mandates, he said there had never been a more important time to follow the public health guidance regarding indoor masking in public settings in areas with substantial or high disease transmission.
“South Carolinians have repeatedly made responsible decisions throughout this pandemic, and we need them to do so now more than ever, by getting vaccinated, wearing a mask indoors when around others, and encouraging others to do the same,” Simmer said. “The lives and well-being of South Carolinians depend on all of us, and working together, we will defeat COVID-19.”
The director did not immediately explain why state health officials didn’t attend McMaster’s press brief Monday morning, but he said they appreciated his comments encouraging South Carolinians to roll up their sleeves.
“DHEC and the Governor’s Office have an open line of communication and consistently make each other aware of important press conferences and statements on COVID-19 and other matters that impact public health,” Simmer said in a statement.
This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 10:36 AM.
