May 1 marks the beginning of a new chapter in the United State’s battle against the coronavirus.

The Trump administration’s “slow-the-spread” guidelines expired on April 30 and now, the responsibility of reopening belongs in the hands of individual state governors. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, California Governor Gavin Newsom, among others, have made it clear that they are weeks away from restarting their states’ economies; however, as of May 1, over 30 states across the nation will be partially reopened, according to CNN, and many governors are electing not to extend stay-at-home orders. 

On April 17, the White House coronavirus task force in conjunction with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) released new guidelines for reopening. The “Opening Up America Again” plan includes three phases; the federal government recommends that a 14-day downward trajectory in positive cases of COVID-19 should be seen in a state before restrictions are lifted. However, many of the states that have chosen to partially reopen do not meet the threshold and are “leapfrogging” the guidelines, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. director of the National Institute of Allergy and Emerging Infectious Diseases. 

South Carolina’s governor Henry McMaster was one of the last to issue a stay-at-home order on April 7 and was one of the first to start lifting restrictions on April 21, when department stores were allowed to open their doors again. McMaster also announced that restaurants would offer outdoor dinning beginning on May 4. 

Editor-in-Chief Logan Schiciano’s “Special Report: Reopening the United States” gets inside the minds of store employees in South Carolina, who have mixed reactions on getting back to work, and reveals the practices their stores are implementing to protect public health amidst the pandemic. 

Music credits: www.bensound.com