Gov. Beshear orders Kentucky event spaces, theaters, gyms to close to fight COVID-19
After ordering the closure of dine-in services for Kentucky restaurants and bars, Gov. Andy Beshear closed all “public facing” businesses that cannot comply with social distancing guidelines, including gyms and movie theaters.
Several of the affected businesses in Lexington saw Tuesday’s order coming and were making preparations before Beshear’s 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline.
As the outbreak of novel coronavirus continues, Beshear has deployed increasingly aggressive measures to try to slow the spread of the potentially deadly illness. Other areas across the country are using more extreme methods, including the San Francisco Bay Area, which announced a shelter-in-place mandate on Monday.
While Beshear outlined specific business types — hair salons, nail salons, spas, concert venues, sporting facilities, community and recreation centers — that should be included in the new order, he said that any business that causes people to congregate should close.
Rather than looking for ways to exempt themselves from the order, businesses of types that were not named should work to keep people from congregating, Beshear said.
Exempt were food providers and other crucial services like pharmacies, banks, auto repair shops and gas stations, Beshear said. Shopping malls and other retail spaces that do not cause people to congregate in one location were also not ordered to close, he said.
The Kentucky Theater is expected to make it through the closure, said manager Fred Mills.
“I think that we’ll be okay,” Mills said. “I think if we close and then are able to be back up and running again, we’ll be okay.”
Prior to Beshear’s decision, the Kentucky Theater had stayed open but implemented extra cleaning measures. The theater has two large auditoriums, which gave people the ability to spread out, said Mills said.
But attendance dropped, Mills said. Nevertheless, those who used the theater were grateful it was still open, he said.
The theater’s management did not want to do anything detrimental to public health by staying open before the order, but they did want to provide a safe alternative to staying home and getting “cabin fever,” Mills said.
Had the the theater stayed open, there was a question of what it would be able to show, Mills said. The start dates for several upcoming films had already been postponed because of the virus.
The closure will mean many theater employees won’t have work, and Mills said he hoped government assistance would be able to help.
Regal, which has a theater in Hamburg in Lexington, voluntarily closed all of their locations effective Tuesday before the announcement. AMC, which owns a theater on Maple Leaf Drive in Lexington, also closed its locations.
Posh Salon & Spa had already made the decision to shut down on Sunday before Tuesday’s order.
Mike Carter, one of the salon’s owners, said they anticipated they may need to close before their planned date, but that they wanted to give their employees something definitive.
“We knew it was coming our way, we just didn’t know when,” Carter said.
The salon advised employees to apply for unemployment during the closure, Carter said.
“My focus has to be on taking care of my people, I’ll deal with the rest on the other side,” Carter said. “We want to make sure our team is taken care of and in a good head space mentally and not doing without anything.”
Still, financial preparation was important, he said. When it started to look like a closure might be necessary, Carter consulted his accountant to learn how much money it would cost the salon to be closed for a month, or even two.
“It’s the uncertainty that causes bad decisions,” Carter said.
Carter said he’s appreciated the way Beshear has helped curb some uncertainty, and has encouraged his employees to watch the governor’s daily briefings.
“I think our governor and his newscasts have just been incredible for our state . . . the newscast is very factual but very positive,” Carter said.
Before Tuesday’s order, some Kentucky gyms and fitness centers had also already made the choice to temporarily close their doors.
Others, including the Lexington Athletic Club and Planet Fitness in Lexington, tried to stay open with increased cleaning measures and efforts to keep people spread out. Attendance had fallen at both.
Lexington Athletic Club closed at the end of its business day Tuesday, ahead of Beshear’s deadline, according to its website. The center planned to credit members’ accounts for the days closed.
Several music venues in Lexington were already postponing shows before Tuesday’s order.
Manchester Music Hall announced on its Facebook page that it was working with artists to find new dates for upcoming shows.
“We really appreciate the understanding of all you music lovers out there,” the venue said in the announcement. “We will continue bringing awesome live music experiences to Kentucky but, now it’s time for us to take on a bigger role for our country. Thank you for your continued support, please stay tuned.”
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 6:02 PM.
