The other pandemic: SC leaders can’t send a clear signal as people suffer | Opinion

If the COVID-19 coronavirus doesn’t get you, the South Carolina whiplash will.

Adding to the anxiety of this pandemic is the epidemic of mixed signals from our leaders.

It should not be this way. We’re on a slow drip of some new, so-called rule almost every day.

We’re told we can’t go to the beach. But wait. The beaches are full.

We’re told the governor is in command of all emergency measures. State Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office said so, basing it on the Constitution. But then, no. Wilson said he meant that as a yellow flashing light, and cities around the state continued enacting their own stricter rules.

We’re told not to gather in groups of three or more. But then Gov. Henry McMaster says we have the First Amendment right to go to church. He suggested churches could meet outside or keep worshipers 6 feet apart, but they could indeed meet with three or more if they so choose.

We’re told the worst thing possible is that people travel around spreading the virus near and far. But hotels were allowed to stay open, though most of them, by now, have closed. Flights kept coming and going from the airport, but again, people made the difference by voluntarily staying home. Few were on the planes.

All while the restaurant industry, which is huge, gets slam-dunked by orders to halt everything but take-out.

We’re told, finally, that we can go outside for very little other than to walk the dog or buy a gun. But the state legislature then herds to Columbia this week to swirl around in the State House-turned-Petri Dish, before bringing the virus back to every crossroads in the state. Please, tell me. What am I missing here? What are they missing?

An independent health research center projected that South Carolina would have 1,060 COVID-19 deaths, and it would have a significant shortage of intensive care-unit beds. But a week later comes the whiplash. Make that 442 deaths, they said, and zero shortage of ICU beds.

We’re told we’ll be back to normal by Easter. Oh, never mind. Maybe June?

My neighbor Jim tells me the rioting will start when they don’t let the Georgia Bulldogs play football. By that theory, maybe we are misusing our skills and talents. No virus can survive a gathering of 80,000 adults standing well within 6 feet of each other, barking like dogs.

And then the Masters golf tournament stepped to the podium this week with the rarest thing yet during the pandemic: some clarity. “In collaboration with the leading organizations in golf, Augusta National Golf Club has identified November 9-15 as the intended dates to host the 2020 Masters,” the uber-private club announced.

It may not happen, but I’m willing to bet they already have 3D printers cranking out azaleas that bloom in November.

The bottom line is this: No matter how many strict rules a town, county or state passes, no one can enforce them in our land of freedom.

And two things have been clear from the moment our hierarchy accepted the fact that the pandemic was here: Stay at home and wash your hands.

Most of us have done as we have been told.

It has cost many people their jobs, careers, businesses, retirement savings — even a decent burial for a friend or loved one.

We’re vested, all right. We’ve hunkered down to get this thing over with.

So why can’t our leaders quit sending mixed signals?

David Lauderdale

Opinion Contributor,

The Island Packet

843-706-8115

Senior editor David Lauderdale has been a Lowcountry journalist for more than 40 years. He oversees the editorial page, writes opinion, and tells the stories of our community. His columns have twice won McClatchy’s President’s Award. He grew up in Atlanta, but Hilton Head Island is home. Support my work with a digital subscription