Bill filed to repeal Kentucky mask mandate, prevent any future state mask mandates
A new bill filed in the Kentucky State Senate would repeal Kentucky’s statewide mask mandate and forbid state government from issuing mask mandates in the future.
Senate Bill 158, sponsored by state Sen. Adrienne Southworth, R-Lawrenceburg, would forbid any state law, administrative regulation, executive order or executive directive requiring a facial covering. It would apply to both the COVID-19 pandemic and any future pandemics.
Pointing out that many people in smaller counties already aren’t wearing masks, Southworth said the intent of the bill is to take the power to impose a mask mandate away from state government and give it to local governments instead.
“This is just moving our state to a more nuanced approach,” Southworth said.
When asked what would happen if there was a serious, more deadly respiratory disease in the future, Southworth said local governments could issue their own orders.
Southworth said she did not discuss the issue with anyone from the local health departments that serve the five counties in her district before filing the bill.
The director of one of those local health departments, Cassie Prather, said getting rid of the mask mandate during the coronavirus pandemic is a bad idea. She said the state is more effective in enforcing mask mandates and that having a statewide mask mandate helps set the tone for local governments.
“I support mask mandates,” said Prather, director of the Woodford County Health Department. “They are effective if people follow them.”
COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. That means it largely spreads from respiratory droplets that people spew when they cough, sneeze, talk, shout or sing. The droplets then either land on people or get breathed in by them, spreading the disease.
While scientists originally urged people not to wear masks early in the pandemic, the recommendation was largely made because of a shortage of personal protective equipment for health care workers. Ever since, it’s been recommended that people wear triple-layered cloth masks when they are in public places, as scientists have found that masks reduce the spread of COVID-19.
While there is varying guidance about how to wear a mask — some scientists are now suggesting that wearing two masks could be more effective — there is little doubt in the scientific community about whether mask mandates are effective.
Southworth was reluctant to challenge the science, instead pointing out that the recommendations from scientists have evolved over the course of the pandemic.
“I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I’m a small atom scientist,” Southworth said. “There’s no way everyone is going to understand this (the science). It is what it is, I just know what I know and can see.”
Here’s what the scientists say. A study published in Nature in September found that surgical and N95 masks “substantially reduce” the number of particles emitted from breathing, talking and coughing and that cloth masks provide “some reduction” of the same particles. Another study looked at Kansas after the governor issued a mask mandate and allowed counties to opt out. The study found that the COVID-19 incidence rate decreased in counties that adopted the mandate, but increased in the 81 counties that did not adopt a mask mandate.
Gov. Andy Beshear’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the governor has said part of the reason a statewide mask mandate is necessary is because “the virus doesn’t recognize borders.”
Prather, like most public health experts, stressed that Kentuckians will still need to wear masks for a while, likely until case numbers shrink to a level where there isn’t as much community spread. She didn’t buy Southworth’s argument that people in rural counties may not have to wear masks as much because they are more spread out.
“Regardless of where you reside, you still have to get medicine, you still have to get food, you still have to go into places that are more crowded,” Prather said. “We have to look past our freedoms and look at how our actions effect the health of others.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 3:49 PM.
