When will we be able to reopen?

Governor, Supt. Spearman count on task force 

Posted 4/24/20

Gov. Henry McMaster is looking to his task force for a plan to reopen businesses.

SC Chamber of Commerce CEO Ted Pitts and his chair, Lou Kennedy of Nephron Pharmaceuticals, met Thurdasy with …

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When will we be able to reopen?

Governor, Supt. Spearman count on task force 

Posted

Gov. Henry McMaster is looking to his task force for a plan to reopen businesses.

SC Chamber of Commerce CEO Ted Pitts and his chair, Lou Kennedy of Nephron Pharmaceuticals, met Thurdasy with more than 24 members of his AccelerateSC task force.

The task force is expected to create an economic revitalization plan dealing with response, protection, governance, resources and information. 

Currently the state has seen drastic drops in the economy, including the state's $24 billion tourism business which is expected to be cut in half.

571 hotels - almost 50% - were closed in South Carolina, and few have reopened.

Education was also a topic of discussion. 

This week, the governor and Department of Education Superintendent Molly Spearman announced that schools would remain closed for the remainder of the school year.

Spearman said she will need AccelerateSC's help, along with her own task force, to determine when and how students will return to school in the fall.

"There's no way we can bring back children to the same type of setting that we had," she said.

A challenge is in rural districts using pen and paper due to lack of internet access.

"We've got places where folks don't have broadband," says Spearman. "It's all over."

Unemployment continues to grow. 

341,743 South Carolinians have applied for unemployment payments in the last 30 days.

The Deparment of Employment and Workforce plans to pay between $60 million and $80 million a week during the pandemic.

Gov. McMaster remains optimistic. 

He said, "We are going to get information, advice and guidance from the very talented people in this room as well as some different groups that are forming in cities and certain professions to figure out the details of how to get South Carolina back to work."

Gov. McMaster, Molly Spearman, Ted Pitts, Lou Kennedy, AccelerateSC

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