‘We don’t get it.’ Lack of COVID safety in Myrtle Beach drove Canadian couple to cancel trip

When John and June Shute look at COVID-19 cases in Myrtle Beach as they attempt to plan their next trip here, it looks like an alternate reality compared to their small town outside of Toronto.

In just the last two weeks, Horry County has reported almost 500 new COVID-19 cases, a relatively low number for the area. Owen Sound, where the Shutes live, has had roughly 2,500 cases during the entire pandemic.

“It’s a scary prospect,” June Shute said.

Even adjusting for its smaller population, the Shutes’ home region in Canada has had an infection rate that’s dwarfed by Horry County’s over the course of the pandemic. Not only has their Canadian home had far fewer COVID cases, and very few deaths, but it also has vaccinated upwards of three-quarters of its eligible population.

Horry County’s COVID-19 case numbers, along with the county’s low vaccination rate, 56%, are why the Shutes decided to cancel their trip to Myrtle Beach for this month.

Canceling their Myrtle Beach trip wasn’t an easy decision for the retired couple. They live in a “stunningly beautiful” snow-covered landscape, a place where they loved to go skiing when they were younger. But in their retirement, the cold isn’t as attractive as it once was. Most years, they come to Myrtle Beach for the month of November, go home for Christmas and return again in January until March.

This year, the Shutes were planning to spend the entire winter — one long stretch from December to February — in Myrtle Beach. As soon as they knew the date for the land border’s reopening, Nov. 8, they booked their long-term rental at Arcadian Shores, where they’ve stayed many times over their last 16 years visiting Myrtle Beach. Up until the pandemic, they’d driven down here practically every winter since they retired.

“As we get older, the appeal of winter has just depreciated,” John Shute said. “It was very disappointing not to be able to go away” to Myrtle Beach.

On staying in Canada during the winter, he said, “we can do it. But do we enjoy it? No.”

Lack of COVID precautions

Whereas almost everyone the Shutes know is vaccinated, there’s a 44% chance in Myrtle Beach of encountering someone who is not vaccinated.

While people in Owen Sound wear masks anytime they are inside a public place, very few people in Myrtle Beach have done so since March, and few businesses ask or remind to customers wear masks.

The Shutes’ grandchildren were sent home from school with dozens of free COVID-19 rapid tests. In many parts of the U.S., rapid tests are hard to find, according to the Washington Post, and the tests cost $25 for a pack of two up front, with the possibility of reimbursement from the federal government or a health insurer later on.

“We just don’t get it,” June Shute said, confounded by the Palmetto State’s comparatively lackadaisical approach to the ongoing pandemic.

In so many ways, it appears to the Shutes that Myrtle Beach is living in an alternate reality compared to Owen Sound. It’s hard for the Shutes to wrap their heads around why so many people in South Carolina won’t get vaccinated.

June Shute said it seemed paradoxical, especially in a region that relies on tourists, to want the economy to thrive but also balk at steps that would slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “To me, it’s kind of backward thinking because if you want your economy to thrive, you want tourists to come.”

Snowbirds she knows are making their decision on which Southern state they will visit based on the COVID situation in each place.

The Shutes say they worry that if they came to Myrtle Beach, other people would not be wearing masks in public indoor spaces — something that’s now second nature to them everywhere they go. When here, June Shute loves to go grocery shopping at Publix and The Fresh Market in the Grande Dunes, but few people at either of those grocery stores bother to wear masks. She also loves wandering around the Tanger Outlets on Highway 17 Bypass, another pastime that might not be an option for her depending on COVID’s prevalence.

“Everybody in the grocery store has to wear a mask” in Owen Sound, June Shute said. “There’s signs posted at the door: ‘Please respect our policy and put your mask on.’

“We’ve done this for so long that we’re used to it,” she added. “That’s what happened up here, and that’s why our numbers are so great. People are just accepting it now because we don’t want to go into another lockdown and we don’t want the businesses to suffer.”

‘Tremendous opportunity’

The Shutes say they aren’t alone in feeling wary about traveling to South Carolina. Typically, they would be joined by five other Canadian couples during their trip to the Grand Strand. Only one of them is here now, June Shute said, having arrived this week.

She wonders how much better Myrtle Beach, and South Carolina, could do with tourism in the winter if the area took COVID-19 more seriously. The Toronto area is home to millions of people, many of whom like to travel south during the winter.

“There’s a tremendous opportunity for you guys to get us down there,” she said.

The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce said last month it hoped COVID wouldn’t be major worry for many travelers coming from Canada.

“I think so many of the people that travel are going to be considerate, and they’re going to be careful, and they want to protect their own health,” chamber CEO Karen Riordan said in November. Many prospective travelers are “asking about what’s open. And of course, we have a good answer there, which is everything.”

In a statement on Dec. 9, Riordan echoed those sentiments saying, “Myrtle Beach offers them the opportunity to travel responsibly, especially during our winter and early spring travel seasons when less visitors are here.”

Riordan noted the region’s plentiful outdoor activities, which would be the safest options for entertainment as the pandemic continues.

“More information specific to Canadian travelers can be found on VisitMyrtleBeach.ca and anyone with additional concerns is encouraged to reach out to us directly,” Riordan said in the statement.

Always watching the news

Despite their fears of COVID-19 and questions about South Carolina’s handling of the pandemic, the Shutes would still like to be able to visit Myrtle Beach this winter, a place they’ve grown to love over the past decade and a half.

General COVID risk isn’t the only roadblock they would face as they try to figure out how to travel to Myrtle Beach safely. As they attempt to plan a rescheduled trip to Myrtle Beach, they spend hours consuming CNN and other news outlets to learn the latest about travel restrictions, testing requirements and vaccine rules.

“It’s confusing, very confusing,“ June Shute said. “There’s hurdles to jump, definitely.”

While they respect all of the travel requirements as way to ensure safety, June Shute said it’s still hard for older Canadians like themselves.

One person she knows, who is 80, had to cancel a trip to Florida because of the ever-changing travel rules. June Shute said it was heartbreaking to hear.

“The pandemic really has been a terrible because who knows how many years she has left?” June Shute said.

June Shute said her friends have seen commercials from the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce encouraging them to visit.

There’s little chance that Myrtle Beach will suddenly institute a bunch of new COVID-19 precautions. The Shutes know that. Instead, they are trying to adapt where they can. Two weeks ago, both of them got their vaccine booster shots. They also plan to stay on top of mask wearing when they are in Myrtle Beach as much as they have at home.

The couple is looking at other travel options, too. June Shute has been looking at COVID case rates for the zip code where they plan to stay in Myrtle Beach and comparing to them another place they’ve frequently been to — Destin, Florida. Recently, Destin has looked better to them than Myrtle Beach.

“I’m watching the numbers, to be quite honest,” she said, “and we know Destin quite well. Their numbers are better.”

A lot of time will go into whatever decision the Shutes make; they are both 75 and at risk of adverse COVID infections.

“For us to venture out of this safe spot is,” June Shute says, pausing to contemplate, “thought provoking.”