McMaster rescinds work-home order, county total at 40

• Restaurants can offer outdoor seating Monday

• McMaster: Day of Prayer this Sunday

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced Friday that the statewide work-or-home order he issued in early March is being rescinded as of Monday.

At the afternoon press conference, McMaster also said restaurants, which have been limited to drive-thru and takeout service during South Carolina’s state of emergency, can offer outdoor seating to customers beginning Monday.

South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control officials also announced 160 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state and 12 additional deaths since its Thursday update.

One additional case was confirmed in Laurens County, bringing the county’s total to 40.

“(Restaurants) will have to follow guidelines that have been issued by the S.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association,” McMaster said. “They have a lot of guidelines on the number of seats, where the menus go – all those sorts of things.”

In addition to those decisions, McMaster also removed the limitations placed on short-term rentals, which did not allow rentals to people traveling to the state from Center for Disease Control-noted hot spots where COVID-19 outbreaks were the heaviest. He also lifted a mandatory two-week quarantine imposed on people traveling to South Carolina from those areas.

McMaster said he and other officials are looking at when to reopen other close-contact businesses and events such as hair salons, theaters, concerts and sporting events.

He also called for a statewide Day of Prayer this Sunday.