The best news is that covid-19 patient recovery rates continue climbing.

Recovery rates were just above 70% 4 weeks ago.

Now it is up to 85% of 7,133 patients who showed covid-19 symptoms or 6,063 SC patients now recovered.

The Chronicle has not yet been able to get Lexington County recovery data from the Department of Health & Environmental Control.

DHEC reported Lexington County has 558 confirmed cases and 32 deaths in a population of almost 300,000 residents.

Columbia and Richland County reported 1,366 confirmed cases and 63 deaths.

Other hopeful signs

Car and truck traffic is up as people shop, return to work and venture out in the evening. This has increased demand for gasoline, driving prices up from just over $1 a gallon 5 weeks ago to $1.57 and higher today.

Air travel and hotel bookings are up slightly. Columbia Metro Airport anticipates higher summer demand.

Mortgage applications are rising, and more people apply to open new businesses.

These are signs the local and national economy is slowly coming back to life.

Economists project the economy will contract by 6% this year, and unemployment in our county is down to 7%, half the US rate.

Have we bottomed out?

For the 1st time since the pandemic forced business closings in March, it appears conditions in the economy aren’t getting worse and appear to be improving.

“It looks like we’ve bottomed out and normalization has begun,” said Beth Ann Bovino, an S&P Global Ratings economist.

Spending on hotels, restaurants, airlines and other industries appears to be picking up again.

On Lexington’s Main Street last weekend, restaurants were busy with diners sitting inside and out, many under canvas tents.

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