On Wednesday (March 11), S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters he was planning to go to the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade this weekend in Greenville, despite well-publicized warnings for weeks from scientists around the country and world that avoiding crowds is a major way to combat the easily-spread the coronavirus.

McMaster told reporters, the major preventive action people needed to do was simple: “Cover your nose. Cover your mouth. Wash your hands all day long. If you’re sick, don’t leave home.”

McMaster had been taking his cues from state health officials, who said there is no reason to alter daily activities or cancel large events where there is no evidence of “community spread” — the catching of a disease from an infected person by coming into contact with them. The state epidemiologist had cited Columbia — gearing up for a packed spring calendar of festivals — as an example of such a safe place.

But by Friday afternoon (March 13), just hours after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency because of the coronavirus, McMaster followed suit, issuing a state emergency and ordering schools to close in two S.C. counties where the coronavirus is spreading: Kershaw and Lancaster.

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin later Friday (March 13) applauded the governor’s action, adding that on Wednesday (March 11), he’d urged the governor not to go to Greenville and to take affirmative steps to stop large gatherings.

Benjamin said he has been encouraging “social distancing,” and that’s why, earlier this week, he persuaded organizers of Columbia’s St. Patrick’s celebration in Five Points to postpone the event, which had been scheduled for next Saturday (March 22).

“Social distancing” is a term that means restricting gatherings of large numbers of people. Since the coronavirus is spread by touching or by tiny drops coming from people’s mouths, keeping people away from each other as much as possible is a known technique of slowing transmission rates of infectious diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “Put distance between yourself and other people.”

McMaster’s emergency declaration, a sign of a heightened recognition of the threat of the coronavirus transmission in South Carolina, followed an explosion of high profile events and closings around the country on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning. The shutdowns came in large part because business, sports, education and some political leaders recognized the virus’ dangers and took action without waiting for Trump, McMaster or other visible elected leaders to take decisive, sweeping action.

Announced closings included Disneyworld in Florida (on Sunday), Disneyland in California, NASCAR events in Atlanta and Miami this weekend and the postponement of this year’s Masters golf tournament held in Augusta, Georgia, bringing visitors to South Carolina as well. Broadway in New York City, with its musicals and plays, shut down Thursday. Major professional and college sports leagues announced cancellations or suspensions.

On Thursday, following a 10-minute Wednesday night national speech by Trump that many viewed as showing the president didn’t have a good understanding of the crisis, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst day in 33 years, plunging some 10%.

Also between Wednesday (March 11) and Friday (March 13) afternoon, well-known people like movie star Tom Hanks, announced they were being tested or had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Across South Carolina, colleges and universities had earlier begun to take action to keep their students away from campus so they wouldn’t cluster together.

Around the world, high profile events and speeches in other countries made news. In a televised address, French President Emmanuel Macron displayed empathy for the victims, praised front line health care workers and said protecting the elderly and the vulnerable were France’s highest priorities. Noting that France had “the world’s best virologists and epidemiologists,” Macron pledged that science would be at the heart of the nation’s efforts to fight the coronavirus, which he called “the most serious health crisis in France in a century.”

On Thursday (March 12), Greenville canceled its St. Patrick’s Day parade. The same day, the Carolina Cup, a major horse race event in Camden slated for March 28, called off the race. It normally draws 70,000 people.

On Friday (March 13) morning, the Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial page, in its lead editorial, urged Trump to give more details about the coronavirus threat and “assemble his specialists prominently” to explain social distancing, which the editorial called “sound strategy.”

At his Friday (March 13) afternoon press conference announcing South Carolina’s state of emergency, McMaster acknowledged the closings of recent days had influenced his thinking.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” McMaster told reporters, “the past 48 hours have seen remarkable activity across our nation. Professional and college sporting events have been canceled.” McMaster went on to cite examples such as Disney World, March Madness and meetings and conferences — “even church services have been canceled.”

McMaster indicated the public played a role in his decision to take action. “Many South Carolinians are anxious and worried, they are worried about their families, parents, grandparents, their children, jobs, friends and co-workers. They are worried about their own health.”

Asked at Friday’s press conference exactly when he made the decision to take action, McMaster said, “As more information came in .... and we were getting a better feel and understanding of the capacity of this illness, we started moving in that direction. We wanted to be precise ... and not make quick decisions that would lead to panic or lack of understanding.”

Asked about Mayor Benjamin’s assertions that he had tried to get McMaster to take action sooner and not to go to the Greenville parade, McMaster’s spokesman Brian Symmes said only, “The governor is going to continue to listen to the advice of public health experts who do this for a living.”

Republicans supported McMaster.

“I have faith the governor is doing what he thinks is best to protect people — no question in my mind,” said Rep. Kirkman Finlay, R-Richland. Still, Finlay added, he is concerned about the unknown long-range impacts of any actions taken, or not taken, in response to the coronavirus threat.

And, added Finlay, there’s another major question associated with controlling the coronavirus threat: What will happen to all the small businesses whose revenue streams will dry up because customers are staying away?

In Columbia alone, numerous businesses depend on the tens of thousands of college students who now won’t be in town at least part of the next two months, said Finlay, who operates a restaurant in Five Points that will lose its St. Patrick’s Day festival business.

One local official glad to see McMaster, a Republican, take action was State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland.

“I commend the governor. I wish it had been done earlier,” said Harpootlian, who had written McMaster a letter Thursday morning urging him not to attend the Greenville parade. “We’ve all known for weeks that social distancing is the only way to stop the spread.”

“Your attendance at a parade with tens of thousands of people converging on a single location from around the Greenville area sends the wrong message,” Harpootlian wrote. “If we are going to slow the spread of this virus ... we must encourage South Carolinians to avoid large crowds.”

Major problems remain, said Harpootlian. “We still don’t have enough test kits to know how many people are infected.”

As of Saturday (March 14), 19 people in South Carolina had tested positive for the coronavirus. None were from the state’s capital city, but one was identified as a patient at a Lexington Medical Center nursing facility. Late Friday, the University of South Carolina also announced that a student athlete had tested positive for the virus.

On Friday (March 13), state health officials announced S.C. residents showing symptoms of having COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, could go to a physician to be tested. Before, a state health official had to approve the testing, which has led to concerns about access to testing, according to media reports.

McMaster also has called on legislators to approve sending $45 million from the state’s rainy day fund to send to the state health agency to assist with the coronavirus response and limited visitation at state health care and corrections facilities.

Rep. Eddie Tallon, R-Spartanburg, said, “I’m sure the governor has more information than I have, and in my opinion, he has made really good decisions on these kinds of things in the past, like with hurricanes.”

McMaster said Friday (March 13), “I want to assure every resident of this great state that your team — Team South Carolina — in all of its capacities is engaged in working to get us through this crisis. And we will get through this. And we will get through it by using our heads, by being smart, by being deliberate, by staying calm and by using common sense.”

This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 5:00 AM.