Would you go to church in SC now? How about shake hands? Here’s what your neighbors said
When would you feel comfortable returning to church or shaking someone’s hand?
In South Carolina, some say they will never again be comfortable doing those things.
A survey by Chernoff Newman, a Charleston research firm, showed that while 25% of respondents are already comfortable going back to worship services, another 18% say it will take more than one year for them to feel that way. About 4% of respondents in South Carolina said they’ll never again feel comfortable attending church in person.
The survey attempts to enumerate people’s feelings and beliefs about the coronavirus. The firm’s senior vice president, Peter LaMotte, presented the survey during a virtual conference Wednesday hosted by the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce. LaMotte’s presentation to business and community leaders showed that while beliefs and feelings about the virus change, they’re trending upward toward travel, retail and dining in restaurants.
“With South Carolina local governments rapidly passing mask ordinances around the state, we have become very focused on what the government says we can and can’t do,” LaMotte said. “But one thing the government can’t force people to do is to go to a restaurant and walk into a business. Only those businesses can do that by making people feel safe.”
Chernoff Newman surveyed 500 people each in South Carolina and North Carolina in April about how they felt about the pandemic. The firm surveyed those same people again between June 23 and July 1 and asked the same questions to show how beliefs have changed, if at all.
The firm reported a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
Here’s a look at what the survey found:
Restaurants? Good. Handshakes and school? Not so much
Around 31% of survey takers in South Carolina said they’re already comfortable dining in a restaurant.
On Hilton Head Island, guests are required to wear a mask in all commercial spaces except for when they’re actively eating or drinking. Although South Carolina does not have a statewide mask requirement, many municipalities have adopted their own.
An additional 17% of people who took the survey said they’d feel comfortable dining in restaurants within the next three months. Around 32% said it would take between three and 12 months for them to feel comfortable dining in restaurants.
Handshakes and hugs were cause for more hesitation, the survey showed.
Just 16% of people who took the survey said they feel comfortable giving handshakes and hugs right now. Most people said it would take between three and 12 months for them to feel comfortable physically greeting people, and 13% said they never again would feel comfortable giving handshakes and hugs.
The survey also showed stark differences in how comfortable people are with sending their children to school, daycare and camps. Around 43% of people surveyed said they would feel comfortable sending their child to school in the next three to 12 months.
The Beaufort County School District begins in-person and virtual classes on Sept. 8.
Businesses will be ‘rewarded’ for coronavirus precautions
Of note to many of the business owners in Wednesday’s virtual meeting, the survey found that customers generally approve of both required and recommended coronavirus precautions.
When asked which precautions are most likely to affect future visits, more than 75% of customers surveyed said requiring employees to wear masks, enforcing social distancing and limiting the number of customers would impact their decision.
This shows that signage, new rules for employees and a commitment to enforcing the rules aren’t hollow measures, LaMotte said.
“If a business takes the actions required to show their concern for healthy and safety of their customers and employees, it will be rewarded,” he said.
In South Carolina, Facebook groups have formed to share information on businesses that are taking coronavirus precautions. Visitors and residents have used the groups to plan their daily outings and compare notes on which establishments are doing a good job.
Many local and state pledge programs have also aimed to show the public which businesses are agreeing to enforce social distancing and other coronavirus measures.
Most believe in masks
Although there’s robust social media discourse on mask requirements, the survey found that 74.5% of respondents believed that wearing a face mask or covering in public places can help prevent the spread of the virus.
In North Carolina, 71.5% of respondents said the same.
Even if people agree that masks can be effective, there are a wide variety of beliefs on which government bodies, if any, should create and enforce mask requirements.
While 63% of those surveyed in South Carolina said they “strongly agree” a business requiring them to wear a mask while visiting, that number fell to 60% when asked about city, county or statewide requirements.
Planning to work from home more
In April, when the firm asked whether people plan to work from home when the pandemic ends, just 40% said yes.
When the firm repeated that question in June, the results show that 60% of responses indicated that they would plan to work from home once it ends.
