Let’s all go to the beach! Myrtle Beach hotels, oceanfront access open for business
The Grand Strand is open for business!
Well ... kind of ...
The past week marked a significant milestone as the Myrtle Beach area starts to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly all the hotels and public beach accesses in the Grand Strand are open. S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster also rescinded the state’s “work or home” order starting Monday.
He still left many restrictions in place, such as no dining-room service for restaurants. They can serve outdoor seating areas, however, starting Monday.
McMaster first gave cities the option two weeks ago to open public beach access, and Myrtle Beach kept its closed. That was until this week when the city council voted to open the beaches. The council also voted to allow hotels to resume renting, though added layers of regulations to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Those regulations include limiting the number of people in elevators, encouraging through cleanings and limited interactions between staff and guests.
“There is a concern about health issues and all this, but we are going above and beyond what any of the other jurisdictions are doing in our county and probably in the state,” Councilman Mike Lowder said at the Thursday vote on the new regulations. “We are trying to move forward, but we are trying to put guidelines that will protect our folks at work, and at the same time, or residents and our visitors.”
Myrtle Beach now joins Horry County, Surfside Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Georgetown County who have all OK’ed opening their hotels and beaches.
While hotels are reopening, many amenities remained closed, including pools, restaurants — except for to-go, curbside pickup and outside dining options — spas and attractions.
A plateau reached?
There were 223 confirmed coronavirus cases in Horry County, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control data released Friday afternoon. There had also been 16 deaths in the Myrtle Beach area.
The number of positive cases in Horry County announced each day by South Carolina health officials appears to have reached a plateau. There were about 70 news cases between April 6-12, 50 between April 13-19, and 20 between April 20-26.
Still, local hospital experts warn the decrease doesn’t mean everything is ready to open. Tidelands Health Dr. Gerald Harmon said hotels and elevators remain risky for the disease spread.
“That’s going to be challenging,” he said. “Now we have to figure out a common-sense way to reopen businesses without opening the floodgates.”
Outside activity is encouraged because the disease doesn’t thrive in the warmer climates.
“We may be blessed by the geography of where we are and lack of high density in population,” Harmon said.
Hurting economy, but some signs of improvement
Retail is also starting to resume in Myrtle Beach, though the economic toll of the coronavirus shut down is continuing to be measured.
Some stores at Broadway at the Beach, such as Ron John Surf Shop and Rack Room Shoes, are back open for customers. The popular shopping complex stated that the store openings are at each owner’s discretion. The attractions at the destination along U.S. 17 Bypass remain closed.
Area golf courses are open, but feeling the economic hit from coronavirus. The market has lost about $21 million in tee-time cancellations with more expected.
“I think with the courses a lot is going to be determined over the coming months. If this is going to extend through the summer and into the fall, how would that impact the golf courses,” Golf Tourism Solutions CEO Bill Golden asked.
“… We’ll see that in every business sector — there is going to be reductions and consolidation, and that’s a distinct possibility in the golf side.”
Unemployment in Horry County still ranks among the highest in the state, but it has slowed down since the pandemic started. There were 5,745 new claims filed by locals seeking benefits during the week ending on April 24. There have been a total of 46,570 claims since the start of the outbreak in March.
Locals continue to see cancellations, economic impact
Horry County residents continue to feel the impacts of coronavirus, as Myrtle Beach canceled its youth, spring sports season.
“Our hopes are that we can now focus on planning our summer basketball, football and cheer seasons and run those without delay,” said Dustin Jordan, the city’s director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Horry County Schools is also preparing for a budget crunch because of the economic toll from COVID-19. A 15 percent drop in sales tax reductions would mean $10.5 million less for the district. That would impact facility improvement projects after 2021.
The state also advised districts to suspended planned raises, which would have added about $4.6 million to the district’s budget. Planned retirement increases were also suspended and were projected to cost about $3.7 million.
This story was originally published May 3, 2020 at 10:39 AM.
