Myrtle Beach packed despite virus threat

(23 Jun 2020) The elevator doors opened and inside were 10 people crammed into a space no bigger than a closet, none of them wearing a mask. In bathing suits, they walked out of the hotel, across the pool deck and into the sand in what is fast becoming South Carolina's hot spot for COVID-19 — Myrtle Beach. People in this resort city are leaving their cares — and sometimes their face coverings — at home after months of worry as hotels, restaurants and beaches reopen. The coronavirus has not taken a vacation. "Oh, we're having fun. Not worried about it and enjoying the weather," said Jimmy Duke, a resident of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania who was visiting the beach. When hotels were allowed to start taking reservations again on May 15, there had been 283 COVID-19 cases in Horry County, which includes Myrtle Beach. By June 22, that number had climbed to more than 2,000, and infections had doubled in nine days. And those numbers include only people who live in the county. The figures do not count anyone who tests positive after taking COVID-19 home along with a souvenir hermit crab or an airbrushed T-shirt. Business leaders estimate 20 million people visit the area each year, 60 times Horry County's population of about 330,000. It was unclear how many visitors could be expected in 2020. In April, just 3% of hotel rooms, condominiums and campsites in Horry County were rented, according to research from Coastal Carolina University. By mid-June, occupancy rates rebounded to 74%, only slightly less than the typical 81% at this point in the summer, the college reported. Health officials in at least five West Virginia counties determined through contact tracing that trips to Myrtle Beach likely led to infections. They recommend finding safer destinations or self-quarantining for two weeks after a trip. Horry County isn't South Carolina's only hot spot. Health officials are tracking virus clusters in the Latino community around Greenville, restaurants workers in Charleston, rural churches that returned to services and large family gatherings. Myrtle Beach needs visitors. Instead of a shutdown, the community now fears that bad publicity could keep people away. That would be terrible news after restaurants and many hotels were closed for two months. From February to April, more than 1 in 4 workers lost their jobs, and nearly 45,000 jobs disappeared in the Myrtle Beach area, vaulting Horry County to the top of South Carolina jobless rate, according to unemployment figures. Some of those businesses remain closed. Others that reopened are struggling with the extra cost of cleaning, food and other supplies, and the reduction in revenue because they cannot accommodate as many customers under social-distancing rules. "Man, at this point I'm just praying we get back to normal. I want to keep people healthy, but businesses are hurting too," Myrtle Beach City Councilman Michael Chestnut said outside his restaurant, Big Mike's Soul Food. Jacko Morowitz has run a gift shop somewhere in Myrtle Beach for more than 25 years. He thought about putting a sign on the door requiring masks and asking customers to cover their mouth and nose when inside. But he bought $100,000 of merchandise last winter for his Good Vibes Gift Shop, and the inventory just sat there for two months. He figures he can't risk turning a single customer away by pushing masks. "If they open the beach, we open the stores before this nothing happen here. It is a dead city. Nobody's here. I hope gonna be better," he said. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...