Beshear’s new KY COVID-19 restrictions impact gatherings, schools, restaurants & more
Gov. Andy Beshear unveiled wide-ranging restrictions Tuesday to curb the third surge of COVID-19 cases in Kentucky, from shutting down schools to eliminating indoor seating at restaurants.
Evoking the language of war, Beshear said the virus continues to test the resolve of Kentuckians, but that an end to the pandemic is in sight with the prospect of two effective vaccines.
“Action is unpopular, but inaction is deadly,” Beshear said. “We have got to take action to make sure we can save lives... and to make sure as many Kentuckians as possible see the end of this virus.”
Starting Monday, all K-12 schools, including private schools, will have to close to in-person classes until next semester (which begins in January). Elementary schools in counties where there are fewer than 25 cases per 100,000 people will be able to reopen December 7.
Beshear said there will be close to 10,000 Kentucky K-12 students in quarantine or isolation by the end of the week.
Daycares, churches, barber shops and retail stores will not be further restricted. Beshear said he would offer additional “guidance” to churches on Thursday.
Venues for weddings and funerals will be limited to 25 people beginning on Friday through midnight December 13.
Indoor social gatherings will be limited to two households, not exceeding 8 people, through December 13.
Starting at 5 p.m. Friday, restaurants and bars will be closed to indoor seating until December 13. They will be allowed to have outdoor seating, but no outdoor events. Beshear warned that “packed patios” would lead to further restrictions.
The state will be using a $40 million fund to help restaurants and bars make it through the closures. Entities that qualify will receive $10,000 and the stipend will only apply to non-publicly traded businesses. Chains will be limited to two locations and no restaurants that make 50 percent of their revenue from drive through will be allowed to apply for the stipend.
Gyms will be reduced to 33 percent capacity and will not be allowed to host group classes. Indoor sporting events, including practices, will be canceled.
The indoor sports ban does not include college or professional athletics. Rupp Arena and the Yum Center will still be allowed to have 15 percent capacity with strict enforcement, Beshear said.
All employees who can work from home should be required to do so, Beshear said.
“I don’t take this lightly,” Beshear said. “I know this will cause some harm out there.”
Beshear said he believed the restrictions will be easier to enforce than earlier restrictions and said he is authorizing counties to enforce his orders.
“I’ll take the slings and arrows, I’ll be the person who says no, if that’s what it takes,” Beshear said.
The restrictions came on the fourth highest day for new cases, with 2,753 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the state total to 144,753. Beshear also announced 15 new deaths, including a 15-year-old girl from Ballard County, bringing the state’s death toll to 1,712.
The state’s positivity rate is 9.13 percent. There are 1,553 Kentuckians currently in the hospital with the virus, 359 of whom are in intensive care.
There are currently 1,675 active cases among nursing home residents and 987 active cases among nursing home staff.
“Our long-term care facilities are being overwhelmed,” Beshear said.
Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner, said the vaccines may be shipped out within weeks for health care workers. He teared up when talking about making difficult recommendations to curb the virus.
“Folks, we’ve got to do this,” Stack said. “We can overcome it and we’ve got to overcome it because we’ve done it many times.”
Beshear’s restrictions were already garnering partisan pushback Wednesday evening. House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, said lawmakers were not consulted but merely briefed moments before Beshear’s 4 p.m. announcement.
“While we take this virus seriously, we will not be cover for his unilateral decision-making,” Osborne said. “Working with the legislature means more than calling us an hour before making his pre-determined edicts public. This kind of move is not leadership, it’s misleading.”
U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, called Beshear’s $40 million relief fund for bars and restaurants an “empty gesture” that uses federal funds that “should have been spent months ago.”
“Instead, I strongly urge the governor, on behalf of my constituents who will lose their businesses and their jobs because of his actions, to contact Speaker Nancy Pelosi to demand she immediately end her partisan and reckless obstruction of... legislation I have co-sponsored to provide $135 billion in forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program to distressed small businesses,” Barr said in a written statement.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 4:24 PM.
