Lawmaker championed early reopening

Out of concern for the economy, U-S Rep. Jeff Duncan says he was an early advocate of re-opening the economy from a tight lock down.  Although there’s concern that South Carolina and other states are seeing spikes in their COVID-19 rates, Duncan remains confident that a loosening of that lock down is the right thing, as long there are common sense safety precautions.  He spoke today on an Oconee Chamber of Commerce news program.  Duncan expressed confidence in the decisions that fellow Republican, Governor Henry McMaster, has made to re-open non-essential services on an incremental schedule.  He admits to being influenced by many people anxious to return to work, even though they’ve been getting jobless pay.   Duncan, South Carolina’s 3rd District member of the U-S House, says he believes the health care industry has been able treat patients without becoming overwhelmed.  He points to the fact that there are available hospital beds.  In South Carolina, according to yesterday’s report, 70.5% of the state’s hospital beds were occupied.  Of 7,411 hospital patients, 607 were COVID-19 patients.