Governor McMaster addressed the rise of the Omicron variant and whether the state will shut down due to the activity of the new strain. After an event on Wednesday Mcmaster addressed the media saying “ we are now in a very different situation than we faced before. But there is no need for a state of emergency in South Carolina to address the increase in COVID infections caused by the omicron virus."
He would go on to say "There is no need for a state of emergency. There is no need for us to shut down. We are not going to close schools. We haven't and we will not close businesses. We will not impose mandates for face masks, vaccines or anything else."
