South Carolina governor rejects COVID mandates
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has announced that his state will not enforce COVID mandates amid news of another incoming wave of the virus.
The governor clearly stated his intentions in a press conference while also reflecting on lessons learned over the past few years:
The lockdowns were a mistake. A lot of the information that was presented and opinions that were presented from official sources were in error and caused damage. I can assure the people of South Carolina that we are not going to have mandates requiring masks. We're not going to close down the schools. We're not going to do a lot of the foolish things that were done in other states that we limited to a great degree here in South Carolina. We have all learned from the pandemic how important common sense is and that was abandoned in many parts of the country…
During the pandemic, Governor McMaster repeatedly exhibited a non-alarmist perspective on COVID. In addition, he has emphasized the importance of personal choice regarding COVID safety measures.
When the “Delta variant” of COVID was said to be circulating in the summer of 2021, Governor McMaster encouraged citizens to get the vaccine, but at the same time spoke out strongly against school closures and masking children:
The new variant, the Delta…does pose a real threat. We know that it spreads more easily…But shutting our state down, closing schools and masking children who have no choice -- for the government to mask children who have no choice to protect adults who do have a choice is the wrong thing to do. And we’re not going to do it.
When asked in the fall of 2021 to explain South Carolina's COVID response in light of an increasing number of child hospitalizations, the governor's reply again reflected respect for individual choice, and in the case of children, parental authority:
I think [the response is] working well…But I urge everyone to inform themselves on the danger involved in this virus and what might be the next virus and determine what they are going to do to keep themselves and their families safe. In the end, it is an individual decision to be made and we respect that…
Parents should be the ones to decide if their child is one that should wear a mask. There are lots of different kinds of children. Age makes a difference. A whole lot of things about learning, about home environment, [make a difference] and that's a decision a parent ought to make.
In the winter of 2022 when the “Omicron variant” reportedly surfaced, Governor McMaster declared South Carolina still open for business as usual.
Later that year a post on the governor's Twitter account made an unequivocal statement about COVID vaccines for children:
