Kentucky restaurants can reopen dining rooms on May 22. Theaters and gyms on June 1.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday that Kentucky restaurants can reopen their dining rooms at a limited capacity on May 22 as the state saw 208 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky, bringing the total number of cases in the state above 6,000.
Restaurants will lead phase two of the reopening and will only be allowed to open at 33 percent capacity, plus unlimited outdoor seating that is six feet apart. Beshear said movie theaters and fitness centers will be able to reopen by June 1, campgrounds will be able to reopen by June 11 and some childcare services and outdoor youth sports will be able to reopen on June 15.
“This is a goal, a goal we are pushing for,” Beshear said of childcare services. “We want to have a safe plan for childcare, knowing that it is such a challenge for folks. I will tell you that it will be significantly reduced capacity and it will be very monitored to make sure that it’s safe.”
He said youth sports would be “low-touch” and that all of the youth sports will be outside.
Bars and groups of 50 or more people, which are part of phase three, may be able to open in July.
“While this is the schedule I want to make happen, one thing and one thing only sets the schedule in the end and that’s the coronavirus.” Beshear said. “Any peak that we see, any cause of major concern, we are all going to have to be willing to pause.”
People who are older than 65 and those who have heart or lung conditions are still being encouraged to stay home, even with the reopenings.
Beshear said he came to the decision to open restaurants on May 22 — before groups of 10 people or barbers and salons will be able to open on May 25 as part of phase one — after talking with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. Restaurants in Ohio will open to outdoor seating before Kentucky.
“We hope to be able to gradually raise that capacity,” Beshear said. “But this is the best compromise.”
Beshear said he had originally planned to reopen restaurants a little later, but the fact that Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee had all opened their restaurants encouraged him to push up the date. Restaurants will still have to meet Beshear’s 10 requirements before opening, which includes increased cleaning, wearing masks, taking temperature checks of employees, providing hand cleaning stations and referring ill employees for testing.
“Many will find they won’t be ready for that date,” Beshear said. “Don’t rush.”
Beshear also announced 11 new deaths, bringing the state’s death toll to 294. Beshear said eight of the 11 deaths he announced were from long-term care facilities.
While the disease has preyed heavily on people in nursing homes (56 percent of the people who have died from the virus in Kentucky have been residents of nursing homes and a total of 863 nursing home residents have been infected with the virus) Beshear made a point to read out the ages of several of the people in their 20s and 30s.
There are currently 356 Kentuckians in the hospital with the virus, 199 of which are in ICU. At least 2,177 people have recovered from the virus.
“Just listen to some of those ages and know you’ve got to take steps to protect yourself,” Beshear said.
Beshear has said he feels comfortable beginning to reopen — even without a sustained decrease in new cases — because of increased testing. Around 81,391 people have been tested for the virus in Kentucky, but Beshear said he thinks that is an underestimate because some labs aren’t reporting back negative results.
On Thursday, Beshear said there are 72 testing locations throughout the state through partnerships with private labs and announced a partnership with First Care labs that will add testing sites around the state for businesses, churches and governments. Beshear said a partnership with Solaris Diagnostics will allow the state to do 10,000 tests a week at 84 locations.
Beshear encouraged everyone to get tested, even if someone just has a cough or is simply worried.
“Get a test,” Beshear said. “If you’re just a little bit sick, get a test. If you’re wondering if it might be allergies, go get a test. If you’re just worried about your family because you’re going back to work and you know you have more contacts with people, get a test. It is there, it is available and it can help protect you.”
The state also received $10.3 million in federal money to prop up health centers doing testing throughout the state. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will also be providing personal protective equipment for nursing homes, the governor said.
That’s a marked difference from the beginning of the epidemic, when testing was limited to just those who were severely sick. Since Monday, the state has tested at least 23,243 people. Beshear had previously set a goal of testing 20,000 people a week before beginning to reopen the economy.
“There were days during this where we wondered if there would ever be more testing. There are days where we were wondering if we’d ever be able to get more PPE,” Beshear said. “And days are getting better on those fronts.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 5:40 PM.
