Indoor dining at South Carolina restaurants, bars to resume Monday

South Carolina will allow dine-in service at restaurants and bars starting on Monday as the Palmetto State begins to reopen its economy.

Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, said “Phase 2” of reopening restaurants will allow them to have 50 percent capacity at the sites themselves and that social distancing will be required.

“These recommendations, these policies, these suggestions are comprehensive. They are well thought out,” said McMaster, noting that the state’s order to allow police officers to arrest anyone who poses a public health threat in groups of three or more still stands.

“People must continue wearing a mask and practicing social distancing,” Linda Bell, State Epidemiologist, added at a press conference. “If not, they put themselves and others at risk.”

McMaster first lifted South Carolina’s mandatory stay-at-home order on May 4, the same day he allowed outdoor dining at restaurants to resume.

South Carolina has had over 7,300 confirmed coronavirus cases since the outbreak began, and 320 people have died.

States are grappling to reopen as they try to contain the burgeoning economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a spike in business closures and unemployment claims.