Gov. McMaster lifting restrictions on public attractions, youth and adults sports in S.C.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTV) - Governor Henry McMaster announced that attraction facilities will be allowed to open in South Carolina on Friday, May 22. Youth and adult sports leagues will be allowed to begin practicing on May 30.

McMaster said attractions large and small may reopen on Friday, in time for Memorial Day weekend.

Attractions that may reopen include the following:

Zoos
Museums
Aquariums
Planetariums
Historic buildings and sites
Water parks
Amusement park rides
Go-Kart tracks
Bingo facilities
Miniature golf facilities
Arcades
Indoor child play areas
Laser tag
Escape rooms
Ziplines
Bumper cars
Climbing walls
Batting cages
Pool halls
Ice skating rinks
Roller skating rinks
Outdoor and indoor paintball parks
Ropes courses
Skate parks
Pony rides
Ferris wheels
Carousels
Slingshots/reverse bungee rides/swing rides

The governor’s announcement comes after AccelerateSC has been meeting for nearly a month to determine the safest ways to reinvigorate the state’s economy.

The “Response” component of AccelerateSC has established exhaustive safety guidelines for businesses that have been allowed to reopen. Guidelines for attraction facilities can be found here and on the AccelerateSC website, along with guidelines for all recently re-opened businesses.

Governor McMaster also announced that youth and adult sports leagues will be allowed to begin practicing on May 30, with competitive play resuming on June 15. Specific guidelines, created by the “Response” component of AccelerateSC, can be found here.

While Governor McMaster never took any action prohibiting day camps, which are popular for children during the summer months, the Department of Social Services and the Department of Health and Environmental Control have established guidelines for those planning to hold camps this summer. Those guidelines can be found here.

South Carolina health leaders continue to push for residents to take advantage of coronavirus testing. Statewide, there are 9,175 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 407 deaths.

DHEC’s goal is to test two percent of the population or 110,000 South Carolinians per month.

DHEC launched a new testing site map that easily and clearly identifies COVID-19 testing sites around the state. Clicking on a testing site icon provides the facility name, address, hours of operation, contact phone number and additional details. Testing sites are also listed under the map for easy viewing. View the updated map at scdhec.gov/covid19testing.

To help protect against COVID-19, DHEC encourages everyone to wear a mask covering whenever in public.

In an updated demographic chart, the state says the ages for reported positive cases range from under 1-month-old to 105-years-old.

For the latest information about bed utilization rates, testing, telehealth options and more, you can visit scdhec.gov/COVID-19. DHEC’s interactive maps were updated to include the latest confirmed and estimated COVID-19 cases by county and ZIP code.

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