Restaurants and bars in SC banned from selling alcohol after 11pm as coronavirus surges - Greenville News

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Nikie Mayo and Kirk Brown Greenville News

Published 12:32 PM EDT Jul 10, 2020

This story has been updated to reflect when and how the governor's new order applies.

The "last call" is at 11 p.m.

Beginning Saturday, that is when South Carolina's 8,000 restaurants, bars, breweries and other establishments will be ordered to stop serving alcohol nightly, Gov. Henry McMaster announced Friday.

His executive order, which he called "the last call," will not affect the sale of beer, wine and liquor at grocery stores or convenience stores.

Bars and restaurants that violate the order can lose their liquor licenses, McMaster said.

More: Young people 'who consider themselves to be immortal' are spreading coronavirus in SC

The move is meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the state's under-40 population, which now accounts for more than half of the over 50,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Carolina, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

"We hope that this will help all of us, particularly the younger generations, to realize just how serious this virus is and how much is at stake if we don't see these infection rates start dropping," McMaster said.

He said there is evidence that a bar "is a very productive place for the spread of the virus — and you can imagine why, because people are close together."

Since June 1, COVID-19 infections in South Carolinians between the ages of 21 and 30 have soared 436.5%, said Dr. Joan Duwve, DHEC's public health director.

Cases involving teenagers who visited Myrtle Beach are attracting national attention, and in the Upstate, about a third of Clemson University football players tested positive for the coronavirus in June.

More: Grim COVID-19 trends emerge as SC officials use social media to push for masks to be worn

According to a New York Times data analysis, South Carolina had the world's third-worst COVID-19 outbreak during the past week, trailing only Arizona and Florida. Another analysis of data from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the U.S. Census Bureau showed that Charleston tops a weekly national list of places where COVID-19 is spreading the fastest. Myrtle Beach ranked fifth.

McMaster's decision to curb alcohol sales marks the first new restriction that the Republican governor has imposed related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic since he began allowing many businesses to reopen in late April.

"And if things don't get better, then we'll take other steps as necessary," he said.

More: Coronavirus has stalled police training and hiring in South Carolina

Check back for updates to this developing story.

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