It’s time, Governor McMaster. Give the order for a shelter in place in South Carolina

The spread of the coronavirus is taking an ever-rising toll on South Carolinians, and COVID-19 continues to administer the cold harsh lesson that what we know and assume one day is likely to dramatically and completely change the next.

That’s why given ever-changing realities on the ground — including 44 new reported cases of the coronavirus in a single day, the city of Charleston’s move to impose a “stay at home” order on residents and somber, stark projections by a respected scientist that our state is on pace to absorb an explosion of citizens testing positive for the virus — it is time for Gov. Henry McMaster to impose a shelter in place order for South Carolina.

Governor, it’s time.

Give the order.

Yes, this is a swift change from the Editorial Board’s editorial just one day ago supporting the governor’s measured approach in holding off giving the shelter in place order.

But that is one of the aforementioned harsh lessons that we’re all learning in this new unsettling era of a pandemic that has not only come to South Carolina’s doorstep, but is increasingly threatening to leave no part of our home undisrupted or untouched.

Just one day ago we felt it was appropriate for McMaster to continue to allow South Carolinians to maintain some connections to “normal” life — as fragile as those links have become in the age of the coronavirus.

We agreed with McMaster’s willingness to put his faith in South Carolinians to embrace a sense of personal responsibility that could help forestall the draconian step of locking down an entire state.

But no more.

That time has passed.

There are too many uncertainties about how many more citizens are at risk of being infected with the coronavirus to keep up any illusion that things can remain as they are in South Carolina.

There are too many lives at stake to keep delaying the need to restrict our personal mobility — which in turn could help to reduce the potential exposure of South Carolinians to the virus.

The roll call of communities across South Carolina that are being affected by COVID-19 continues to become longer and longer by the day — and soon it may do so by the hour.

These are realities that we just can’t ignore, dismiss or avoid any longer.

To stay well, it is time for South Carolinians to stay in place.

It’s time, Gov. McMaster.

It’s time to give the shelter in place order.

This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 10:44 AM.