In Lexington, businesses, not individuals, will be mostly on the hook for mask mandate
Gov. Andy Beshear’s mask mandate will be enforced more on businesses than individuals in Lexington, a health department representative said Friday.
Beshear’s order states that Kentuckians have to wear masks while inside of or waiting to enter indoor public spaces, while riding in public or shared transportation, and while outside in areas where it’s hard to social distance. But the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department is going to focus enforcement on businesses.
“We’re not going out with notepads writing tickets for individuals,” health department spokesman Kevin Hall said.
The mandate will be enforced similarly to Lexington’s public smoking policy, Hall said. Businesses who don’t properly enforce the mask mandate could be subject to fines if they repeatedly neglect the order, Hall said. But the initial step of enforcement will be more focused on educating violators.
If the health department is aware of a business not enforcing the mask mandate, officials will talk to the businesses’ representatives, find out if they have proper signage, remind them of rules and guidelines and find out if there are any roadblocks which keep the business from following the mandate.
Hall said the responsibility still falls on individuals because they could hurt their favorite businesses if they don’t follow the order.
“You are damaging that business,” Hall said of potential violators. “They’re the ones that are going to be penalized.”
Beshear’s order states that violating the order “must result in a loss of access to a business’s services.”
Hall also said that not wearing a mask leads to the possibility of rollbacks on reopening as cases continue to increase. He pointed out that Texas has had to slow down some of its reopening due to surging cases. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order to shut bars down again in late June and ordered face masks to be worn in public areas for counties that have 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases.
Lexington reported its largest single-day increase in cases Friday, with 83 new cases, making 1,922 total cases for the city. Hall said many of those cases came from people who had gone to gyms or restaurants while they were infected.
Beshear said Thursday that this order will hopefully keep Kentucky from having to take more drastic measures.
“We have worked too long and hard, and sacrificed too much, to squander the gains we have made in this fight,” Beshear said.
Beshear’s order goes into effect at 5 p.m. Friday and lasts 30 days, with the potential for renewal.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 1:02 PM.