No reservations: Myrtle Beach area sees ease of COVID-19 rules as restaurants, more open
Grand Strand restaurants are serving customers in dining rooms as more businesses will soon reopen as the area looks to restart its economy after the COVID-19 shutdown.
“I’m happy from one point to open, but from another, I’m concerned. Me, as an owner, I have full responsibility about what happens and if tomorrow God forbid something happens,” said Tanya Romanenko, owner of Old Town Crepes. “We’re using as much precautions as possible.”
This past week marked the first time in more than a month that restaurants could resume dining room service, and the move was welcomed news for many Myrtle Beach area diners. On Monday, salons, community pools and gyms will also be allowed to open their doors.
The hope is the reopenings will kick start the economy stalled by coronavirus.
Even as more returns to normal, the number of positive COVID-19 cases in South Carolina and Horry County grows. South Carolina now has more than 8,400 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started. Horry County has more than 280 cases with 18 deaths, according to the latest data.
More reopenings
As cases increase, and more restrictions ease, there is confusion on whether the area remains under a State of Emergency order. The statewide deceleration remains in place as do ones in Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach. Horry County ended its State of Emergency.
“This is no longer a state of emergency,” Horry County Chairman Johnny Gardner said. “Instead of highlighting the emergency, it highlights the recovery.”
The move has little impact on what can or can’t reopen, officials said.
Slowly, the state has resumed activities since the pandemic started. In late April, the state allowed public access to the beach. Hotels soon followed and reopened. Initially, Myrtle Beach hotels could not welcome new reservations, but that changed Friday when they were allowed to take bookings made after the outbreak started.
On May 11, restaurants’ dining rooms rejoined the fray when they were allowed to reopen. There are still restrictions as they can only seat at 50 percent capacity.
“We are very thankful that we can open up 50 percent inside dining and look forward being able to open 100 percent in the near future,” Duck Dive Bar and Grill Tara Fox said. “We are small, inside dining for us is 32 people, with 50 percent, that means 16. The way we look at it, that is 16 extra people we can see now on a daily basis.”
Back to normal?
The reopenings are set to continue this week as salons, pools and gyms will be allowed to reopen starting Monday.
There are guidelines to help everyone stay safe when those businesses reopen. For example, gyms are encouraged to limit class size and to make every other piece of cardio equipment available for use. Public pools are suggested to allow only 20 percent of capacity and to remove shareable equipment such as kickboards. Salons should encourage employees to wear masks.
As more businesses reopen, local officials hope it will restart one of the area’s busiest times.
Members of local Chambers of Commerce met recently to talk about ways to get people back to the Grand Strand. Officials are targeting people within driving distance, but also asking locals to take stay-cations.
“We also will be counting on South Carolinians to really support the Grand Strand,” Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Karen Riordan said. “Keep their money and their vacation time here with us as opposed to leaving the state and going somewhere else.”
While many places are reopening, not everything has received the green light, as attractions and theaters remain closed.
There is some trepidation that the reopenings could lead to an increase in the number of coronavirus cases for Horry County. So far, the area has not seen a “second spike” in the number of positive tests.
“There’s many factors at play here that are going to make it difficult to assess whether a second spike has occurred,” said Lior Rennert, an assistant professor at Clemson University.
One of the big reasons a second spike might not have happened is because of the lack of a baseline. Rennert noted the number of cases never went down, which could skew the numbers. If the spike is filling the decrease, it would appear as if the daily case numbers are holding steady instead of going up or down.
