South Carolinians must continue to support local businesses during COVID-19 recovery

On business

As South Carolina continues to tackle COVID-19, we must remember all of the facts and not just those shown in small snippets on social media. While there has been an increase in cases, the number of daily deaths attributed to the virus is the same as it was about two months ago.

The jump in confirmed cases as fatalities remain flat is a result of both increased testing and younger people — who aren’t severely impacted by the virus — getting infected.

At this point, it seems as though the coronavirus’ effect on small businesses is more deadly than the virus itself. Since mid-March there have been more than 635,000 new jobless claims and the state sits at an unemployment rate of about 12 percent. The state government may not have imposed additional restrictions, but it seems as though its citizens have.

If we want to lower the unemployment number and save local businesses from shuttering, we need to flatten the fear.

Even though scientists are hard at work on a vaccine, it will still be a while before it gets here. We need to figure out a way to keep going. To quote Gov. Henry McMaster, the “answer is individual responsibility.”

This doesn’t just mean taking safety precautions, but also supporting your local businesses and keeping the local economy afloat.

Steve Johnson, Dillon

On gyms

I wish someone would explain to me the wisdom of gyms and health clubs not being required to insist people wear masks. I understand that even if the governor made it law to wear masks, a private owner of a health club would be exempt from requiring them.

What kind of sense does that make?

There are too many people who don’t feel the need to be respectful of the health of others, and they demonstrate their lack of regard by refusing to wear masks. It seems only common sense to wear a mask in health clubs to help slow down the coronavirus; unfortunately, we’re now seeing that common sense is not so common.

It’s a sad state of affairs.

Sandy Janiskee, Columbia

On McMaster

In a recent piece titled “Stay Out of South Carolina,” Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker delivered a warning to the nation about the dire mismanagement of our state leaders — and how that has resulted in an alarming increase in coronavirus cases and deaths in South Carolina.

Gov. Henry McMaster is falling in line with Republican governors from other ruby red states like Arizona, Texas, and Florida — all of which are facing the same predicament of skyrocketing COVID-19 cases and deaths. These governors have decided that their political futures depend on showing servile obedience to the dictates of President Donald Trump, who is increasingly seen as incompetent and corrupt. Unfortunately, their actions have come at the cost of thousands of deaths.

McMaster’s recent statement that requiring face masks would be unconstitutional is absurd — and his move to stop alcohol from being served after 11 p.m. defies logic when you consider that unlimited beer or liquor can be purchased prior to this “curfew.”

McMaster has stated that he saw a “lot of stupid” over the holidays. By all accounts, stupid in South Carolina begins at the top.

James Robertson, North Myrtle Beach

On Graham

The Republican Party of Ronald Reagan is dead and Sen. Lindsay Graham has blood on his hands.

Graham’s full-throated embrace of President Donald Trump only a few months after calling him a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot is well known. However, in addition to gleefully torpedoing his reputation as a senator of integrity, Graham is also helping to demographically doom the Republican Party by working diligently to lose African Americans, Latinos, college-educated men and women and young people.

Now there is evidence that the Republicans are also starting to lose support among traditional Republican-leaning groups such as Asian Americans, seniors and suburban men and women. It is not a winning strategy for a party to have a voting base that largely consists of non-college educated white men between the ages of 50 and 65.

Hopefully, a new Republican Party can emerge and move beyond the likes of Graham, Sen. Ted Cruz and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell; we need a more center-right party that is comprised of reasonable Republicans like Sen. Mitt Romney, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.

As someone who is a former supporter of and contributor to Graham, I certainly hope this happens.

Mitchell Yell, West Columbia

This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 11:14 AM.