Governor Henry McMaster extended the State of Emergency for South Carolina after it expired on Thursday. State law determines if a governor makes the extension, it will last for 15 days. The declration allows for the state’s response to COVID-19 to continue, McMaster said. McMaster has said the State of Emergency allows him to suspend regulations and put the state in a position to receive funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The emergency order directs the Department of Health and Environmental Control to exercise all of its emergency powers as outlined in the Emergency Health Powers Act, which allows the departments to do what it deems necessary to address the coronavirus pandemic.