As COVID numbers, driven by the Delta variant surge in the Commonwealth, Governor Andy Beshear signs an executive order requiring everyone to mask-up in all Kentucky schools, whether you are vaccinated or not. “I’m going to have the courage to do what I know is right,” Beshear said during a COVID-19 press briefing where he announced he would be signing the order
The Governor said he wants to ensure that Kentucky schools can remain open. “We are to the point where we cannot allow our kids to go into these buildings unprotected and unvaccinated and face this Delta variant.”
Children under the age of 12 are ineligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine and hundreds of students in Kentucky are already quarantined in districts that opened just days ago.
On Tuesday Beshear announced alarming numbers of COVID cases and hospitalizations which he said will reach the highest number seen in the state in two weeks if we remain on our current trajectory. There were 25-hundred new cases and seven deaths in Tuesday’s report. There are 1,251 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state. Kentucky’s positivity rate is just above 11%. Beshear said he knows there will be pushback by some but reiterated his stance and that of health officials that vaccinations are the key to stopping the spread of the virus and returning to normal.
“If you hate all the steps that we have to take if you hate wearing a mask get your shot. If you’re not getting your shot you’re the reason that our kids are having to wear masks in school,” Beshear said, “so again if you won’t get your shot and you’re complaining about everything else, you’re the cause.”
The executive order includes K-12, pre-K, and daycares for children as young as two and will be in effect for 30 days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1nCbY4kUng